Growing Pains: Part II
by chickypeg
Summary: Everyone grows up. How do you deal with growing up? And how do the people around you deal with it? Especially when there's something called libido? Contains spoilers for anime, manga, novel, radio dramas and CD dramas. Sequel to Growing Pains. Mikoto/Older Anna and some Chitose/Maria
1. The Barmaid

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: This is the sequel to 'Growing Pains' and if you have not read it yet, please do so in order to understand some of the things in this story. I will refer back to any specific chapters if it is necessary. It is rated 'M' because there is going to be some highly suggestive material in this story. I am not promising that I will write lemons (if you are into them) but I could change my mind. If I do, I will give forewarnings, so please use your discretion if you know you are underaged._**

**_*I have no idea as to how long this story is going to be. I thought GP would have been less than 20 chapters long and it turned out to be nearly 50 instead. _**

**_**There is a bonus chapter at the end of Growing Pains based on Lion-O, in case you haven't read it and would like to. It's very short._**

**_***Please read the other material on K available, aside from the anime, including the novels, the Dramas and the manga as this story will have spoilers for all of them. _**

**_-The tumblrs of trashbunny, zeheart and marchen v friedhof have translations of the novels._**

**_-The tumblr of chilly-territory has the translations of the side stories._**

**_-Check out the Youtube account of YUXX13SaTin for most of the Dramas._**

**_-Almost any manga site for K Memory of Red (such as mangafox, mangahere, mangareader) which is scanned and translated by Aqua Scans._**

**_Thank you to all of these people for all the effort they put into bringing out those translations. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 1: The Barmaid**_

Yata was a well-known World Class skateboarder who had earned several titles over the past few years. However, the respect he earned as a sportsman did not mean that he got away from Izumo Kusanagi if he happened to harm the bartender's precious, precious bar or his stock of liquor in any kind of way.

Yata hadn't meant to spill that bottle of expensive, quality sake that Izumo had travelled to the top of some mountain to get.

Being sorry didn't matter to the bartender either.

Yata had to _pay_ for his unintentional crime.

And no, money would not cover the cost of the blood, sweat and tears Izumo had gone through to acquire that special sake.

So unless Yata came up with another bottle of that fine quality rice wine, he was going to do menial work around the bar for the next six months as repayment.

And that was how the great Yatagarasu, World Class skateboarder had spent the last couple of weeks sweeping up, dusting off and washing the dishes at Homra bar and he would continue to serve his time until the six months were up.

Yata's eyes were currently welling up with tears as he gazed at the screen of the television set in the bar. He gripped the dirty cloth he had been wiping down the counter with tightly and brought it to his mouth as he watched the couple on the TV Set argue.

He bit the dust coated cloth as his mood changed until he became angry. Then his expression became horrified and the threw the cloth aside.

His eyes widened as he waited for the next moment but suddenly, the channel changed to one showing music videos.

"Wha-?! Hey, why did you do that, Kusanagi-san?!" he demanded. Then, more anxiously, he added, "how long have you been standing there?"

Izumo sighed wearily as he placed the remote on a high shelf to ensure that the short young man could not get it.

"It's Friday evening and my patrons should be coming in soon for an after work drink. They're not coming in to watch a ridiculous Korean Drama,"

"It isn't a Korean Drama!" Yata denied.

A soft voice corrected behind him, "'Fated to Love You' is a _Taiwanese_ Drama."

Yata was about to retort something but he stopped at the sight of Anna Kushina, his clan's beloved princess.

His mouth dropped open in shock.

As did Izumo's.

They were both absolutely _horrified_ at how _beautiful_ the sixteen year old girl looked.

No, no. 'beautiful' wasn't enough to describe her.

They would never voice it for their minds couldn't contain it, but the appropriate word to use to apply to the image of the clan's princess was '_sexy_'.

She was wearing on a german barmaid's outfit; the skirt was red and short while around her middle was a black corset that held her just under the bustline.

It enhanced the flair of her hips and seemed to push out the shape of her full breasts which were covered by a white material with a frilly edge that seemed too flimsy for their liking. Her legs seemed too long and too shapely and were covered with thigh-high white stockings with black ribbons at the top while her feet were clad in black shoes.

Anna's hair was combed out to fall in long, white waves down her back and to her gently rounded backside. She seemed to wear no make up on and yet her eyelashes seemed too thick and long and her lips seemed a little too pink.

Anna was holding a tray in one arm as she picked up an empty beer mug that was beside Yata that had come from a customer who had just left after becoming overly emotional by the Drama.

"What...what are you wearing?" Yata demanded.

Anna looked at him and blinked. "My boss at the maid cafe specially ordered these outfits for us but when they came and we tried them on, Sayuri-san decided that they were not conservative enough for the cafe. Since they were non-refundable, she let us keep them,"

Izumo frowned. "You look very lovely Anna, but why do you have it on now?"

Anna blinked at him and tilted her head to the side. "I am helping you today, Izumo. I thought this outfit might be suitable,"

Izumo slapped a hand to his forehead. "Anna, you are not helping out at the bar dressed like that. Do you want me to be arrested?! You're underage to even be working here!"

"You let me work here before," she pointed out. And the police were too afraid of the men of Homra anyway.

"You were more decently dressed!"

"You worked here when you were underaged too," she added and Izumo fell silent.

Yata looked from Izumo to Anna then said, "Anna, maybe you should go upstairs and watch out the rest of the Drama-"

"I don't like them. Sayuri-san does and that's why I know about it," She looked pointedly at Yata. "I didn't know Misaki liked them."

"I don't like them!" he fiercely denied.

"Then why were you watching them?"

"Emi likes them and forces me to watch them!"

The truth was that Emi was obsessed with the Drama and refused to go anywhere without seeing it. Since Yata loved his girlfriend so much and just liked being with her, he would stay with her as she watched the show. It turned out that he ended up becoming _more_ obsessed with it than she did and would watch reruns of it constantly instead of actually going out with the girl.

Izumo spoke then, "So you got caught up in it? Ah well, that's expected. But that's not the problem. Anna, I don't want you-"

Before he could continue, a group of people entered. "Kusanagi-san! A round of apple martinis please!"

Followed closely was two other people and then three all of who threw orders at him.

He definitely needed help today.

Anna looked at her guardian with a look reminiscent of those wide eyes she used to give him when she was younger that made him give into anything she wanted.

Izumo knew he had to be smart about this otherwise Mikoto would have him by the neck.

"Do what you want, Anna but I'm not taking responsibility."

* * *

And that was how Anna became the barmaid that evening. The normal customers, particularly men, stayed in longer than normal because they were entranced by the beautiful doll-like barmaid who served them.

Beer flowed freely, cocktails went around randomly and soon the bar was filled with the hazy, smoky atmosphere, mixed with the liveliness of the afterwork crowd on this Friday evening.

Along with the patrons came in other members of the Red Clan and Izumo deliberately stationed them at various corners of the bar to ensure that no perverts tried anything on her.

"Kusanagi-san, aren't you afraid of Mikoto?" Yata questioned as he watched the lovely girl give beers to the group of blushing men.

Izumo was wiping the spill from a cocktail from off his counter as he answered, "Anna will be the one to explain to Mikoto, not I,"

Yata didn't say anything to that.

Over the last two years or so, Anna had developed exceptionally beautiful. They had always known that she would turn out to be pretty...but not _this_ pretty.

Anna herself might seem to be the same way. Most her clansmen probably thought she hadn't changed very much other than physically, but Izumo was a very perceptive man. Years spent as a bartender and listening to other's problems and watching their expressions had taught him how to understand people, even when they didn't say anything.

Now Anna-she could be a tough case to crack.

Izumo used to be able to read her like a book but he noticed that over time she had started to...hide herself from him. Of course that wasn't 'physcially' hiding herself, but somehow she had managed to conceal her feelings from him.

Many times he didn't know what she was thinking. Although he always questioned her, she would always tell him that nothing was wrong; everything was fine-she was doing okay and her job was alright.

But if that was the case, why did he oftentimes feel that the girl he cherished like a sister (because he would feel old if he thought of himself as her father now) had become a bit...distant?

Now Izumo was not a man who acted rashly as many of his comrades did. He tended to think, watch and observe. That was why he was considered the 'brain' of Homra.

And he had been observing Anna for quite some time now.

Something wasn't right and he couldn't place his finger on it. All he could do was suspect that it had something to do with Mikoto: ever since she had started working at that maid cafe at the end of her first year in High School, Anna's relationship with the King had changed.

On the surface, they seemed normal whenever she was home-and it seemed that she was rarely ever home too because she often went back to Seneca to work instead of staying most weekends and holidays with them.

Anna would often sit with Mikoto on the couch by the bar. Sometimes they conversed but in small sentences which in itself was not an unusual occurrence. However, it felt like they only spoke because they had to. There were customary affectionate kisses on the cheeks but a lot of the warmth that had been between them seemed to crumbled away and everyone, including Anna and Mikoto themselves pretended that nothing was wrong and the pieces of the relationship they had still existed. But that wasn't so.

It was like most of the tenderness between them had evaporated. _No_, Izumo realized suddenly-that tenderness was being restrained by both Mikoto _and_ Anna.

Izumo was becoming increasingly worried over the pair but because neither of the two would talk much about themselves or their relationship with each other, it was difficult to discern what was really going on.

Thus far, Izumo decided that everyone began to act out and rebel a little at some point in time, even Anna and this was just how she was doing it. Even so, for her to act out and rebel as he believed, it meant something was wrong; where Anna's emotions were probably in a riot behind those large gray eyes and Mikoto probably didn't really know how to handle them.

Anna probably knew that he _didn't_ know how to so she probably kept silent about it.

She was a girl after all.

Men weren't really known for understanding girls-much less Mikoto for that matter who would probably just be glad that she was alive and looked healthy. He had understood Anna's inner mind when she was a child, but now that she had grown older, he probably didn't and because he wasn't one to try to figure out the female mind, he let the matter alone.

Speak of the devil, Izumo thought as the door of the bar opened and Mikoto's brooding presence seemed to absorb the liveliness of the atmosphere of the noisy, smoky bar.

He was simply one man, but something about him gave off a thick, heavy vibe that slowly engulfed the cheerful atmosphere of the bar, making everyone aware of his sudden entry.

Even Anna, for she paused in the middle of the serving a customer and looked up when he entered. Mikoto had his normal bored expression on, but upon sight of Anna, his eyes narrowed slightly. There was a slight gleam in those golden orbs, indicating that he was not pleased by her new outfit or what she was doing.

Kamamoto hurried to Mikoto's side and whispered something to him.

The King nodded, and his clansman bowed before going to help Izumo at the bar.

Anna quickly gave the last person their drink before straightening up and awaiting her King who made his way slowly over to her.

* * *

Despite the noise of the bar, Anna could hear every thud of his boots as he walked. He was like a lion who was being very observant of what his pride members were up to and when he caught sight of something he did not like, he moved very slowly but with the intent to intimidate in his lazy golden eyes.

Anna lowered her head as soon as he reached toward her.

She had grown taller now that she was sixteen. Currently, she reached Mikoto to about an inch under his shoulder.

Mikoto came to a stop in front of her, and she could feel the heat of his body touching hers as her eyes remained on his black boots. Even now, her senses became alive because of him, because of that large body of his that her own reacted to many times. There were even occasions when it came to the point of where she came close to loosing control of herself.

Her cheeks reddened slightly when he placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. His hot breath on her skin made her cheeks redden slightly.

To the rest of patrons who observed them, it might have looked like a casual interaction with two people who were familiar with each other.

However, the dangerous looking man had placed a possessive hand on the girl's shoulder and when he leaned down to speak into her ear, his eyes had been fierce as they looked straight on at a pair of men who had been eying her a bit too much.

The girl nodded and the man pressed a soft kiss against her temple. Then she hurried away, much to the disappointment of the rest of patrons.

"That's some high class pu-" one man was about to say, but he shut his mouth immediately when the red haired man's eyes blazed on him.

Hurriedly, the customer dropped some cash on the counter and left without finishing his drink.

Mikoto sighed as he eased himself into a chair.

Izumo immediately began preparing a drink for him but Mikoto lifted a hand, indicating that he should stop.

"You should have sent her upstairs," Mikoto stated.

"I did want her to go, but she insisted," Izumo defended himself.

Mikoto tsked in annoyance. He got up again and headed to the kitchen.

* * *

"_Go to the kitchen," _had been Mikoto's quiet order to her earlier.

No one disobeyed Mikoto, ever. Whether or not he wanted it, he was obeyed by everyone, including Anna.

She knew he was probably displeased with her outfit, but she had learned over time that Mikoto would get annoyed over these things but she knew that he did try to keep his temper intact with her.

It wasn't like she had deliberately set out to poke at his nerves, but she really had wanted to wear on her outfit today.

And in truth, she had wanted to see his reaction.

The slight lopsided frown of his mouth his been a disappointment to her.

She silently berated herself for expecting something else from Mikoto's behavior toward her for her choice of clothing today.

Anna was well aware that she was attractive-enough people told her so. She was never vain about it, but even if she had been, Mikoto would have been perfect for humbling any arrogance she might have harbored about her beauty because he never had any reaction to it save for the occasional spike in his pretty red which she figured occurred when he was displeased.

That would have been a stumbling block to any beautiful woman-to have a gorgeous man like Mikoto be unreactive and uncaring toward them.

Of course Anna had been well-aware that he would act this way but she sometimes felt it wouldn't hurt to try to see how he would behave if she were to change her look a little.

She had done things in the past like changing her hairstyle, changing her clothing style and nothing had worked. Today she just revealed a little more flesh and the only reaction she got was basically him telling her to get out of the room.

He had obviously told her to go to the kitchen because Kamamoto had informed him that she hadn't eaten yet and as always, Mikoto did have a problem with her when she didn't eat as she should.

Anna was making a tuna onigiri when the door opened.

She didn't need to turn around to figure out it was Mikoto. She knew his presence well enough.

She heard his footsteps as he came up behind her.

He let out a sigh. He obviously preferred that she ate something heavier than onigiri.

"Would you like one?" she offered.

"No," was his response and he walked over to the refrigerator.

Anna wrapped her riceball in a seaweed wrapper and turned to observe Mikoto who had shut the refrigerator without taking anything from it.

"Rikio ate the meat you're looking for," she informed him.

Mikoto grunted in annoyance.

Anna bit into her food and deliberately chewed with the left side of her mouth. Her right side hurt too much.

Mikoto glanced at her and walked over to the sink. He took out a glass and opened the faucet of the sink and began to pour water in it.

Anna observed her King. He hadn't changed at all since she had known him for he looked the same-the same very masculine body with all the muscles in all the right places. His clothing style didn't change very much either as he still wore casual t-shirts and jeans with that black fur lined jacket he loved so much.

That jacket was probably the only thing of his he took such good care of.

Anna didn't want the rest of her onigiri and she searched around for a plate to rest it on. She didn't want Mikoto harassing her to finish eating it so she figured she would pretend to get something to drink, and when he left the room, she would throw it out.

She found one and lay it on top the counter just as Mikoto had finished drinking his water and was refilling his glass.

Anna noted that the hand he used was the one with the three silver bracelets and the matching silver rings. He had such a casual sense of style, and yet he never failed to look impressive...or dangerous.

"Are you done?" Mikoto questioned her.

Anna hadn't been counting on him asking her. She didn't really like lying to him.

He looked at her and she couldn't help but nod.

Mikoto didn't say anything. He simply shut off the pipe and motioned for her to sit on the stool. She did so and looked up at him, reminding her of the time when she was actually this short and had to gaze up at that handsome face that used to seem so distant from her own.

Abruptly, Mikoto threw the water on her face, deliberately aiming for her right cheek. Anna gasped and she flew out of her seat.

Mikoto grasped her by the back of her dress. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked quietly.

Anna swallowed. She felt like the prey of a lion who was being casually toyed with before getting killed.

"Bathroom," she replied truthfully as she covered her right cheek.

She struggled, but of course, she couldn't get away. Mikoto was too strong.

Mikoto placed a hand on his hip and looked at her as she watched him over her shoulder with her hand hiding her cheek.

"Oh? And you don't even want to know _why_ I threw water at you?"

Anna was silent as she turned her head away quickly.

Mikoto sighed and pulled at her, forcing her to walk backward until he unceremoniously dumped her onto the stool again.

He caught her wrist in his large hand and pulled it away from her cheek, revealing a large, ugly blue-black bruise that was slowly being revealed as the make up she wore on to cover it up melted away from the water he had thrown on her.

"How did Mikoto know?" she questioned.

She sensed a spike in his temper and she could see a slight change in the color of his red. He was getting angry and she knew she was going to have to answer for this bruise.

Mikoto let her go as he found a cloth which he wet at the sink's faucet.

"I smelled the make up on you earlier. You don't wear make up. You were also chewing with your left side. You always chew on the right side of your mouth," he explained in a deceptively quiet tone. Anna knew that tone.

He was mad.

She had to come up with a good reason for this mark.

He turned to her and held out the dampened cloth to her. "Clean it off," he told her to do.

She took the cloth tentatively and slowly began to wipe at the make up that hid her bruise. However, she seemed to be going to slowly for Mikoto as he became impatient and snatched away the cloth, removing the make up from her cheek himself. She closed her eyes at the slightly rough motions and even tried to pull away, but his free hand caught her shoulder and gripped it tight, forcing her to remain where she was.

"Mikoto," she whimpered, but he ignored her until he was through and as he stepped back, she saw his red flare.

Mikoto tossed aside the cloth into the sink and folded his arms. Anna could see how his biceps bunched under his white t-shirt as he did so.

Her entire right cheek had that ugly bruise on it. Because her skin was so pale, it showed up even more than it would on a normal person.

"Mikoto..."

"What happened?" he demanded in a dead serious voice.

"Someone threw a book," she replied. One of his red eyebrows furrowed slightly. He seemed to find that strange and hard to believe.

"The person was throwing it for someone else and I passed by at the same time. It hit me," she elaborated.

Mikoto leaned forward so that his serious face was very close to hers. She was startled and instinctively drew back.

However, Mikoto caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. Anna swallowed hard when she felt his thumb shift upward to her lower lip where he slowly, but meaningful caressed the plump flesh.

When he spoke next, his voice remained quiet, but she could hear the suspicion and underlying anger in it, "You mean to tell me that for all the martial arts training you have-in both kickboxing and aikido, even with your ballet which would have given you good coordination...you couldn't get away from that?"

Anna looked him dead in the eye as he released her face.

With a completely straight face, she replied, "I was surprised,"

Mikoto gave her an assessing look before turning to the sink.

It seemed he didn't quite believe her.

"You in an abusive relationship?" he questioned as he proceeded to wash the wash cloth. That neat freak, Izumo would probably have a cow if he left it like that in the sink and Mikoto figured that he would prefer to not hear Izumo's griping over something so insignificant today.

Anna was startled at his question. She hadn't expected that from him. However, she knew she had to get him to drop the matter so she told him the most random thing (which was also probably true), "The only person I would let bruise me is Mikoto,"

He stiffened at that and threw her a glare over his shoulder. "Don't say things like that," he scolded her. "People will think I have an S&M fetish," he muttered as he set the cloth aside.

"What's S&M?" she asked him innocently.

Mikoto turned to her and pinched her unbruised cheek. She whimpered. He didn't answer her question, but he did lean down and kiss the red mark on her face. This did surprise her. She couldn't remember the last time he had actually done something like that to her.

Using his hand again, he caught the left side of her face and tilted it upward so that he could observe the bruise more carefully.

Anna's cheeks reddened slightly under his scrutiny. It really wasn't like how things used to be between them.

Now, when he got too close, she became painfully aware of every aspect of his being which was so strong, so powerful and not just from his physical make up, but from that huge existence he hid behind that often lazy expression of his.

As a child, she had simply been accepting of him as how he was.

But now as an older person, with something called 'hormones' and 'libido', it could be quite troubling for her.

Not only that...there seemed to be hardly any of that tenderness between them anymore. Mikoto's eyes used to warm up at the sight of her, and now although she saw a slight change in his brooding red, he remained more or less the same.

"Why did you hide it?" he asked her, still observing her bruise.

"I didn't want to cause a fuss," she answered.

Mikoto sighed and let her go.

"Go upstairs and get changed," he ordered her and she nodded.

He drew back, taking his beautiful warmth with him and she hurried away.

Mikoto stared after her and sighed.

So bothersome, he thought to himself, thinking that Anna looked too damned grown up in that dress of hers.

* * *

_To cling to the fringe of his jacket as they walked made her feel safe to know that she was so close to his warmth, that if anything happened, she could just hold onto him._

_He was her warmth, her safety, her protection...against everything. _

It would look strange for a girl her age who looked like she was eighteen to cling to Mikoto's jacket like that. However, she did manage to grasp hold of his elbow as they walked through the cold streets this December day.

Mikoto had his hands shoved into his pockets as he walked, along with a cigarette stuck between his lips.

Anna had chosen to wear on a red sleeveless lolita dress with a lacy edges and a ribboned up bodice. It was not appropriate to wear out in this weather so she wore on a white long sleeved shirt underneath it along with white stockings and red mary jane shoes.

She looked very much like a crafted doll that girls would cry over just to comb its hair and change its clothing for Anna was very beautiful.

At least Mikoto didn't seem to mind how she looked now that she changed her outfit.

Mikoto took an abrupt turn into a corner shop.

Anna glanced up at the sign. She tilted her head and blinked.

It was a Yakiniku place-barbeque place.

She let out a soft sigh.

Somehow she wasn't surprised. Mikoto did love meat and he probably figured that she would need some iron from the meat for her anemia.

She couldn't disagree with that.

As soon as they entered, the waiter smiled a little nervously at the sight of Mikoto.

"We don't have any tables for two...we have a circular booth that can fit six...if that's alright with you,"

Mikoto shrugged and Anna nodded.

They were actually being given good treatment by being given a larger space but that was because the people were probably afraid of Mikoto.

He was well known in Shizume City for being a dangerous man.

Everyone just assumed that he was a yakuza leader. 'Ordinary people' didn't know that he was actually a King.

They were led to the round booth where, in the middle was a rectangular yakiniku table. As they were seated, almost immediately they were served with a large white plate with a wide assortment of meats along with smaller wares containing vegetables and sauces that they might want to eat with their meat.

Anna and Mikoto moved to sit into the booth from opposite sides, but because it was circular, they ended up sitting side by side, about only a foot apart from each other.

Silence had been between the pair since they had left Homra after she had changed her clothing. Mikoto was already grilling his meat. He tended to prefer half cooked meat so he ate at a faster pace than Anna.

Anna reached for a slice of cucumber to grill with her chopsticks, but Mikoto who had been reaching for the meat, knocked her hand away with his, forcing her to draw back slightly. She looked at him with slightly widened eyes.

"Mikoto?"

He didn't look at her as he moved to pick up his meat.

"Eat the meat or I will _make_ you eat it," he threatened quite calmly.

Anna suppressed a shudder.

She had had a bad experience with Mikoto and his idea of delicious half cooked meat at a yakiniku when she had first come into Homra.

_It was Anna's first time at a Yakiniku. Her clansmen had decided to go out for dinner one Sunday evening because no one had felt like cooking._

_So Izumo walked to Mikoto's left and Anna clung to his clothing on the right while Tatara held her free hand to her other side._

_Behind them, Chitose winked at a pretty girl who passed them. She blushed and giggled while Dewa sighed wearily. Yata was quarreling with Kamamoto for something insignificant and Fushimi was rolling his eyes in annoyance at the pair. At that time, Eric, Shouhei, Fujishima and Bando hadn't joined quite yet. _

_Upon entering the yakiniku, they were given a large booth to eat in as it was quite a few of them. Food was ordered all around._

"_Is this Anna's first time to a yakiniku?" Tatara questioned._

_Anna nodded. She was seated between him and Mikoto. She was happy to be placed here-beside the person she felt warmest next to, and beside the person who showed so much kindness, gentleness and love to her._

"_As you can see, there's a grill in the middle of the table so any of the meat or vegetables you want can be cooked by you to your own liking,"_

_Kamamoto and Mikoto were already grilling their meat. _

"_Show her how to do it," Izumo instructed and Tatara nodded._

_He used his chopsticks to pick up a slice of raw meat that was on the large platter given to them. _

"_Does Anna like her meat well done?" Tatara asked._

_The small child nodded and observed as he grilled both sides to perfection before placing it on her plate._

"_Would you like any vegetables?"_

"_Yes,"_

"_Which ones?"_

_She pointed out some slices of cucumber and carrots._

"_You should take a lesson from her, Misaki," Fushimi commented as he picked at a piece of meat. _

"_You aren't any better, veggie-hater," Yata shot back. _

_Fushimi tsked and deliberately dropped some vegetables onto the short fellow's plate, horrifying him while the others laughed._

_Anna smiled softly and began to eat the meat and vegetables._

_She tended to eat slowly and Tatara had already begun grilling his own food while Mikoto had probably demolished half the plate of meat by himself._

"_Such a bad example you set," Izumo said to Mikoto as he placed a piece of meat into his mouth._

_Mikoto glanced at him._

"_What are you saying?"_

"_Anna's with you so much and all you eat is meat with little or no vegetables,"_

_Mikoto narrowed his eyes. _

"_Isn't that why you insist on everyone else feeding her except me?"_

_Tatara chuckled then. "Sometimes she feeds you. Like the other day when we made dumplings together. It was so cute to see a tiny child holding up a dumpling to you to eat,"_

_Mikoto sighed and went back to eating. He never really cared much to eat and talk (because talking got in the way of eating). _

_And he had eaten that dumpling from Anna's hand that day. It had tasted pretty nice. _

"_Ah, King, that's the last piece and Anna has mostly eaten vegetables. Don't you want to give it to her?"_

_Mikoto glanced at the little girl who had automatically returned his look. She blinked up at him._

_Mikoto shrugged and held out the piece of meat between his chopsticks to her._

_She opened her mouth and took it between her lips. _

_She began to slowly chew using the right side of her mouth. _

_As Izumo called for the check, Kamamoto happened to point out, "But doesn't Mikoto-san eat half cooked meat. Anna, are you alright with that?"_

_Anna's expression hadn't changed when she had been eating, but everyone did suddenly realize that as a child, she may not be fond of meat that was still a bit raw._

_She remained silent to Kamamoto's question._

_However, she turned to Tatara and gripped the cuffs of his long sleeved shirt. Tatara turned to her. _

"_Anna?"_

_In reply, she buried her face against his stomach and his slender arms went around her._

"_She looks a little green," Fushimi stated with a frown. _

"_Anna, do you need to throw up?" Tatara questioned in alarm. _

_She shook her head and Izumo was already questioning a nearby waitress for some antacids to help settle her stomach._

_Mikoto scowled. _"_You mustn't force yourself," he chided her._

"_She probably ate it because you made it," Izumo pointed out as he accepted the chewable tablets from the waitress. He popped a few in his hand and held them out to Anna who turned her head slightly, revealing half closed eyes and pinched lips. Izumo felt sorry for her because of the way she looked. _

_Like a wary little creature, she reached out and snatched the tablets and turned her head against Tatara again and began to quietly consume the medication. _

_Mikoto sighed and placed a hand on the child's head in an act of comfort. He had felt guilty that day. _

_Once he removed his hand, Anna turned to him, looking a little better now, and gently patted his hand that had been on her head. Mikoto frowned slightly._

_That was her way of saying, 'It's alright, I'm just fine'._

* * *

Mikoto's idea of delicious tasting meat that was half cooked was really disgusting to Anna. She could never understand how he could eat raw food other than that he was probably part lion, part man (if that was even possible). It was a part of Japanese culture to have raw food and Anna did well enough with raw seafood...but not with beef.

Or horse meat.

She always remembered how he had thought of that horse she had found as nothing more than a meal as he had named it 'Basashi'. To this day, she could never figure out if it was really his twisted sense of humor or because he was just hungry because he had just woken up.

Maybe it was both.

Anna was startled as a piece of meat was shoved into her mouth. Her automatic response would have been to spit it out but it was Mikoto whose chopsticks had been unceremoniously pressed between her lips and because she had grown up in such a way to never reject anything from him because she cared for him so, she began to chew it.

Mikoto must have felt that she was taking too long to eat and had decided to carry out his threat.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she tasted the meat.

She had expected something still raw, but it was well done.

She looked at the handsome man beside her who had just placed another slice of meat on the grill.

"You like it that way, don't you?" he stated without looking at her.

Anna made a soft noise of assertion and placed some vegetables and more meat on the grill. Mikoto snorted when she deliberately put some of the cooked vegetables on his plate. However, he didn't complain and he grudgingly ate them anyway.

She had once done this before when they had been at the yakiniku another time when she was about nine years old. At that time, going out for barbeque had become more commonplace for the members.

"_Anna's like Mikoto's little mommy," Tatara had laughed. _

"_Shut up," Mikoto had growled, but had eaten the vegetables the child had made for him. _

Mikoto often took Anna out to eat with him when she came back from Seneca because when she was with him, she would actually eat-either because he threatened her, or because she willing did so herself.

"Are you staying this full weekend?" Mikoto questioned.

Anna paused. "No,"

"I see," he murmured and added put a piece of his half cooked meat into a dipping sauce.

"If you ask me to come home for good, I would," she told him quietly.

Mikoto let out a frustrated breath, clearly irritated. "We've talked about this before. You have only a few months again in High School,"

"It was easy for me to finish up this term and come back only to graduate," she pointed out. Seneca did offer that option because she was so bright and she was in her final High School year.

She was clearly getting upset even if her expression remained neutral.

But Mikoto knew her and he knew her habits. Like the way her eyes hardened in annoyance.

"Do you want to leave your friends behind?" Mikoto asked her.

"We would have worked something out for me to see them," Anna replied.

They would have; they would have sorted something out.

"You're finishing in June next year. Tough it out," Mikoto ordered.

Anna didn't say anything. The last time they had had a similar discussion, she had wound up leaving Homra earlier than expected and going back to Seneca under the excuse that she been asked to come in and work when, in fact, she had just become so upset with him and his desire to keep her away from home under different excuses that she got up and left early as a type of revenge. It was childish and she knew that, but even Anna couldn't display adult-like tendencies all the time because even she got frustrated at times-and Mikoto _could_ be a very frustrating man.

In truth, Anna had become increasingly insecure about her position in Homra. A part of her knew she shouldn't be, but she couldn't help it.

She wasn't a little girl anymore. She didn't expect to be still be treated as such, but her clansmen were sometimes wary around her, as if they didn't know how to handle a more grown up looking Anna Kushina.

She was still the same and if they took her to the Game Centre, she would shoot zombies with Yata. If Kamamoto took her to a cake shop, she would eat desert.

If Fujishima brought home more animals, she would play with them. If they brought her cartoons to watch, she would watch them with her clansmen.

But over time, these activities had become more rare.

They always seemed unsure of what to do and it irritated the hell out of Anna.

What hurt the most was that no one seemed to really mind when she left to go to Seneca earlier than usual, or if she cut her holidays short just to go.

Her cycle was more or less normal now so she could come home more often, but a part of her wondered if it was that everyone was just forgetting about her.

Even Izumo for he often waved her off with a bright smile and Mikoto was forever sleeping whenever she left.

It was times like these that she missed Tatara so much. She always felt that if he was still alive, she could ask him anything and he would give her all the answers she needed. He would give her the assurance she so desperately wanted.

It wasn't like she never asked to go to the Game Centre, or a cake shop or to play with the stray cats.

However, her clansmen would look a little uncomfortable.

"_Aren't you a little too old now?" Yata had once asked her uncomfortably. _

And that had hurt.

Really hurt.

What also hurt was that when she had turned sixteen two weeks ago, Mikoto hadn't even been there. The rest of her clansmen had made the effort to come but they knew, even if she had tried to hide it, that she was unhappy that Mikoto was not there.

He had been gone since that morning and only told Izumo he was going for a walk, then later he called to say he was dealing with some yakuza members.

"_Anna, I'm sorry I'm gonna have to leave you," Chitose told her apologetically, but Anna understood why he had to go. His wife was already nine months pregnant and leaving her home alone was a bad idea._

_Chitose seemed extra sorry because he knew that Anna was already upset that her beloved King wasn't here._

"_Does Maria still beat you up?" Yata asked._

_Chitose scowled. "She doesn't beat me up!" he snapped._

"_But Chitose-san...ever since we learned that she was pregnant, you've been coming in here with bruises," Kamamoto pointed out. _

"_Screw you, fatty! My wife doesn't beat me!"_

_Shohei placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, "Wife beating is a serious crime, Chitose-san. There is no shame in admitting that you are a victim of domestic abuse,"_

_Chitose shoved him off. "Die in a hole, Shohei! She just gets upset with me sometimes! That's all!"_

"_Ah, she thinks you flirt with other women," Anna remarked as she bit into some of her birthday cake. She didn't really taste it for her mind was on Mikoto. _

_Chitose glanced at her, "Did she tell you that?"_

"_No,"_

"_Then why do you think so?"_

_Anna looked at him then and without blinking, she answered, "Women's intuition,"_

_Everyone was a bit startled by her answer and Shohei started to laugh while Eric smiled while playing with the kitten Fujishima had handed to him. _

"_Women's intuition, huh? I still don't get it. Sure I was a flirt before, but..."_

"_She probably thinks that because she's pregnant, you find her unattractive," Izumo put in. He added as he handed him a piece of cake to take to his wife, "women are very sensitive about their looks you know."_

_Chitose accepted the cake. "That's stupid. Does she have any idea how beautiful she is?" He scowled. "Women...I'll never understand them."_

_He gave Anna a kiss on her cheek before going, figuring that he should assure her that she was quite beautiful and he found her extra-attractive in her current state. Hopefully that would save him from having to run from her whenever she tried to scratch his eyes out._

_Pregnant or not, Maria was still a powerful strain who was trained as an assassin and it was only because of some of the skills Chitose learned in Homra that he was able to get away with only some scratches and bruises. _

_Meanwhile, Izumo poured Anna some juice to eat with her cake while the others tried to cheer her up. They did stupid things, brawled over nothing and used her birthday as an excuse to drink. The night culminated with a drunk Fujishima singing at the karaoke machine about cats. It had sounded awful enough for any cats listening in to run far, **far** away._

_As Izumo helped him onto the couch, he suggested to Anna, "Perhaps you should go to bed now. You'll have to forgive Mikoto, Anna. He wouldn't deliberately be so thoughtless,"_

_Anna had nodded but sometimes Mikoto's distant behavior and his lack of tenderness often gave her uncertainty of where she stood with him. _

_She did do as Izumo had told her to after she bid everyone goodnight. They themselves returned home although Fujishima was too drunk to go anywhere and they were afraid that he might go hunting for strays in the night and end up becoming one himself._

_It had happened before and ironically, Eric had been the one to find him sleeping among a pile of stray cats in a dump one morning. _

_Anna still waited out a bit for Mikoto but by the time the clock struck two, she found herself too upset to wake out anymore for him. He didn't even call, he didn't even leave a message to show some thoughtfulness toward her._

_He used to do that so that he wouldn't worry her. He would at least let Izumo know what he was doing, but currently, no one knew where he had gone off to and it was only because Anna used her marbles around midnight that she realized that he was dealing with some gangsters. She wondered why he just didn't save it for another day. She wasn't a demanding person but Mikoto knew that even to this day, she was strongly attached to him and it would hurt her a lot if he wasn't here._

When he finally returned sometime the following morning when Izumo decided to blow him out for coming back so late.

Anna had heard Izumo yelling at Mikoto for it, but Mikoto had given no response, simply walked off and went to his bedroom.

Anna had been hurt and she didn't even bother to tell him goodbye the following morning before she returned to Seneca where she had promised Akemi, Kei and her boss that she would be there to celebrate her birthday with them as well.

She had only come back to Homra the day before and this was the first day she had seen Mikoto in more than a week.

He probably forgot that he hadn't come home for her birthday.

She sometimes just wondered if she had a place in the clan anymore.

Heck, they rarely ever took her out with them when they went bounty hunting anyway and Anna could never understand why or what were their intentions.

"Why don't you take me with you anymore?" Anna suddenly asked Mikoto. After all, if she never questioned their asked actions, she would never know the answers and she would be left to assume-and always assuming would mean that she would never know the truth.

Mikoto looked at her, a little surprised by her question.

He shrugged. "You're not really around anymore and even when you are, everyone decides that you should probably rest from work and school,"

"That's stupid," she stated, angry now as indicated by the slight narrowing of her eyes.

"It's not," Mikoto retorted in a dismissive manner.

"It is," she insisted and the atmosphere between them grew tense.

That was how her relationship with Mikoto had developed lately-full of tension and underlying strain. Everyone pretended to not notice, even Anna and Mikoto themselves but they were quite aware that things weren't really good between them.

It was like everything that used to be between them suddenly fell apart and they were struggling to hold onto those pieces in hopes that they would come back together.

The pair continued to look at each other with slightly narrowed eyes.

Gray met gold and neither blinked.

The tension was so high that the other patrons in the restaurant began to feel a bit uneasy by the 'yakuza' and his 'girlfriend' who looked like they were going to yell at each other in any minute.

"When will Chitose's child be born?" Anna asked, cutting the strained atmosphere.

Mikoto swallowed the meat in his mouth and shrugged. She shouldn't have been surprised that he wouldn't remember.

Anna suddenly just wanted to go back home. Tomorrow, she was definitely going back to Seneca. She had things to do there.

She forced herself to eat in silence with Mikoto.

When they left, she didn't hold onto him.

* * *

The bar was empty when they returned home. It seemed that the patrons had become disappointed at the loss of their beautiful waitress and after drowning their sorrows in a few extra drinks, they went home.

Izumo and Yata were already cleaning up when Anna and Mikoto came home. Anna told Mikoto very politely with her hands clasped in front of her as she gave a slight bow, "Thank you for tonight,"

Izumo and Yata turned to see her, surprised at her behavior.

Right away they knew that Anna and Mikoto must have argued in their own 'Annaish-Mikotoish' way where they wouldn't shout or raise their voices but there would be a terse atmosphere about them, indicating that they were both vexed in some way and it seemed like this time, Anna was the one who was mad and Mikoto was frustrated because of her ire.

Mikoto sighed and watched as she walked away.

"What happened?" Izumo questioned.

"Nothing," was Mikoto's response.

"You didn't tell her why you weren't there for her birthday, did you?" Izumo realized.

"I don't need to explain myself," Mikoto retorted as he shrugged off his black jacket.

Yata and Izumo both looked at him with slight frowns before going back to their work of cleaning up.

Kamamoto came in with some bottles of wine which he proceeded to stack.

"What's with this annoying silence?" Mikoto demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Izumo questioned rather nonchalantly.

Mikoto tsked and walked away. He wasn't going to explain to them either that they had given him the impression that he was a hopeless man when it came to women.

He went upstairs and headed straight to Anna's room.

Normally he would just open the door, but he realized that she might also be changing her clothes so he lifted his fist and didn't exactly knock-it was more like he banged the door twice and said her name, "Anna,"

The door opened slightly and a pair of large gray eyes peeked at him.

"Mikoto?"

"Come here," he ordered.

She opened the door more fully, revealing that she had stripped off her dress and was wearing on a silky robe that fell to just above her knees. It was satin red and Mikoto was quite sure that that was her bra he saw printed out around her chest area.

He didn't really want to think about that.

However, the robe did reveal every contour of her body, indicating that she had a very lovely physical make-up. She had the body men dreamed of having sex with for she held a certain slenderness that made men want to run their hands down her arms, the flair at her waist made them want to grip it and those curves of hers made them long to caress them.

Mikoto always tried to keep such thoughts out of his mind, but he had become all too aware that Anna was not a child anymore-she was very much a woman. Age sixteen for most girls didn't mean that they were 'women'. Anna was a woman in the sense of her maturity. She had always been a little adult and based on the different strain Types, it had been claimed that it was possible to consider strains who were Anna's Type D personality as already adults...although sometimes Mikoto had his doubts about that due to Anna's often strange moodiness.

He attributed it to teenage hormones, but sometimes he felt that there was something else on her mind. But he didn't let it bother him too much.

Like Izumo, he would observe her for now and when the time was right, he would deal with the matter. Like a lion, or a predator, he observed his prey and when he learned enough he would grasp at a weak point at the right time and attack.

Not that he was going to 'attack' Anna, but he would reach out and find out what exactly was going on behind those pretty eyes of hers once he gathered enough information.

"Mikoto?" Anna said his name again, tilting her head to the side.

Mikoto sighed and caught hold of the left side of her small face. He tilted her head to the side and saw that on her earlobe was a piercing.

She had had that since she was fifteen.

"_I didn't know she was going to a tattoo and piercings place to pierce her ears," Yata whispered loudly as he, Kamamoto and Anna entered the bar. _

_The pair of men behind the fifteen year old froze at the sight of Mikoto who was lying on the couch with his arms behind his head, simply relaxing. He turned his head to the side and saw his clansmen and his princess nearby._

_He lifted an eyebrow at the frightened expression of the two males beside Anna._

_He crooked a finger at Anna, beckoning her to him._

_Ever the prim, pretty, obedient girl, Anna walked to him._

_Once she was close enough, he grasped her wrist and tugged her so that she fell across his chest. She gave a startled gasp but Mikoto just caught hold of her chin when she lifted herself from him, with her hands still pressing against his hard chest. _

_He used his free hand to brush back her hair._

_He narrowed his eyes. _

"_You pierced your ears," he stated._

_She nodded._

"_It's our fault, Mikoto-san! We let her go to the shop!" Yata exclaimed and he bowed apologetically while grasping the back of Kamamoto's head, forcing him to bow as well._

_Mikoto glanced at them, then at Anna again. He sighed and released her. She sat up and remained sitting at his side as he turned away to face the backrest of the couch. He closed his eyes. _

"_Mikoto-san, aren't you angry?" Kamamoto questioned._

_Mikoto lifted his slightly and watched them from over his shoulder. "Should I be?"_

_The two males looked at each other and shrugged. They had assumed that any mar to the princess's beautiful skin done without their King's permission was an insult. _

_Apparently Mikoto didn't seem to mind at all. _

_Mikoto resumed his position and decided to take a nap. Anna remained at his side for a little longer and he didn't mind. It wasn't often that she sat beside him like that before. He had grown so accustomed to this habit of hers that when he started to see less of her, he missed it._

* * *

"You never took them out," Mikoto said, observing the tiny earring with the white stones in them. Those were the only earrings Anna had ever worn and they were same earrings used to pierce her ears.

"No, I never did," she answered. She had never had a reason to.

"I see," Mikoto murmured.

Anna trusted Mikoto fully, despite whatever tension they had between them lately, so she let him reach out and tug at the earring.

It was very hard to remove the stopper because she had never taken them out and time had just made them more difficult to remove.

Mikoto gave the earring an annoyed look and while still holding Anna's face in his hand, he used his free hand to grasp her shoulder. His red head lowered until its softness tickled the side of her face. Anna's hands instinctively caught Mikoto's broad shoulders and fisted into the material of his soft t-shirt as she suddenly felt his warm breath on her ear and suddenly, his hot mouth seemed to be almost touching the tender flesh of her earlobe.

His teeth carefully enveloped the earring as his hand on her shoulder shifted so that he was now holding the earring stopper behind her earlobe. He tugged slightly and his soft hair moved against her cheek and as he drew back, she saw her earring between his perfect white teeth.

It wasn't seen often, but Mikoto had sharp canine teeth. They didn't exactly stand out because he didn't smile much, and they didn't look out of place either. They very much suited this lion-like man.

Mikoto removed the earring from his mouth and repeated the procedure for the second earring.

Once he had both out, he took her small hand and opened its palm over his. She remembered that she used to always ask him if her hand grew. Many times the answer had been 'no' but they could both now see that her pale, slender hand was significantly larger than how tiny it had been when she was little.

But Mikoto's hand was still much larger than hers, and much rougher yet, he could still handle her so gently. Such a stark contrast very much resembled Mikoto's personality-he was a rough character-a dangerous man, but he was a lot kinder than he let on.

Mikoto dropped the earrings into her hand, along with their stoppers.

"I would have destroyed them," he explained as his reason for using his teeth and not both his hands to get the earrings out.

Anna looked from her accessories to him.

Mikoto suddenly lifted something up. She was surprised to see a silver earring. It was a very _familiar_ earring.

The silver hoop was identical to Tatara's and Anna immediately glanced at Mikoto's ear to see that the earring wasn't there anymore.

"Tatara," Mikoto said as he gently pressed the earring into her ear. Anna tilted her head to the side, revealing some of her long, slender neck in order for him to have easier access to her ear.

Then he took out another one that was just like Tatara's.

"Izumo," Mikoto added as he added this one to her other ear. Finally, he lifted up a silver ring. It looked like the one Mikoto always wore, only instead of it being three rings fused together, it was a single, perfectly round, silver ring. Mikoto held it up to her eyes so that she could see that there was a tiny inscription on it.

It was her name, in English; Anna Kushina and there, to the side was Homra's symbol.

"Me,"

Mikoto took her right hand then and gently slipped the ring onto her middle finger. It was a perfect fit.

"Happy belated birthday," he told her and gently kissed the back of her hand with the ring on it. Anna blushed slightly.

She began to feel really awful for acting the way she had earlier.

"Mikoto...thank you," she whispered as he released her hand. "but why didn't you give it to me earlier?"

Mikoto sighed. "I wanted to give it to you when we were alone. The left earring was Tatara's. Izumo had the one on the right made for you and I had the ring on your finger made," on a more serious note, he added, "Anna, never remove the ring,"

She didn't plan on doing so, but she still questioned, "Why?"

"The symbol of Homra on it will give you protection if you end up in trouble," he replied.

Anna wasn't too surprised by that. The symbol of Homra did strike fear into men.

Anna was very grateful and pleased with her late birthday gifts. She tiptoed and kissed Mikoto's cheek. In response, he patted her head kindly.

"I'm sorry," she apologized for earlier.

Mikoto shoved his hands in his pockets, somehow looking leaner in his stance. "I did try to come back earlier, but those men had kidnapped a family with a young child. It took me a long time to find them. I didn't see you the next day to explain to you,"

Because she had rashly decided to leave Homra and go to Seneca because she had been too upset with him instead of waiting around to speak to him.

She felt even more ashamed now.

Mikoto gently pressed his knuckles to her cheek that was bruised. It was hidden under the make up but Mikoto knew it was there.

"Anna, you would tell me if you were in trouble, wouldn't you?"

Anna nodded. "I would," she answered honestly.

Mikoto gave a frown. It seemed he had expected her to lie but he knew her well enough to know that she was being honest this time.

Anna was about to say something, but there were loud whispers nearby.

"Whoa! Mikoto-san and Anna look like a couple, don't they?!" Kamamoto was saying.

"Well Mikoto-san is the only person suited for Anna anyway!" Yata responded.

Apparently, neither Anna nor Mikoto realized how suggestive it looked for a beautiful girl like Anna to be standing before such a handsome young man in only a short red robe with his hand softly touching her cheek-an act of tenderness they hadn't seen between the pair in a while. They had also seen Mikoto slip his ring on Anna's finger and to the pair of men, it seemed almost like a marriage proposal especially with the gentle way Mikoto kissed her hand afterward.

It was like watching a King claim a princess's hand in marriage to be his bride.

Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but Yata and Kamamoto would view no other man suitable for Anna other than the King and they could picture their King caring for no other girl except Anna and for Mikoto to give a ring to _anyone_...well, that in itself said something.

Suddenly, Kamamoto and Yata realized that Mikoto and Anna were very well aware of them and the two came out of hiding.

"We're sorry! We just wanted to...uh...see if Anna was alright!" Yata told them.

It was true. They had been worried because they knew that she was upset.

Anna's heart softened a little. She even managed a tiny smile to her comrades. "I'm fine. Thank you, Misaki, Rikio,"

The two nodded, bowed to Mikoto and hurried off.

Mikoto returned his attention to Anna whose cheeks were still tinged red. "You're going to Seneca again tomorrow?"

She nodded. She looked up at him. "I'll be back...soon,"

"I see," Mikoto murmured.

He let out a loud breath and turned to go.

He was surprised when he suddenly felt Anna's slim body against his back. Her hands gripped tightly into the material of his clothing.

"Anna?" he voiced her name gently as he turned around and gathered her into his arms. It was the first time in a long time since he had embraced her. Even if she hugged him when she came home, he rarely ever hugged her back lately. His hand would just gently pat her head, and he would remove her from him before he moved to sit elsewhere and smoke, seemingly unaware at her bafflement at his behavior.

"Thank you, Mikoto," she told him again.

Mikoto didn't really know what to make of her actions.

Figuring it might be PMS or something he just let her hold onto him for as long as she wanted to.

She lifted her head and said softly, "Did Mikoto eat any cake?"

Her eyes were that wide gray kind that she had used on Izumo earlier.

Mikoto caught her shoulders in his hands and gently removed her from him. "Do you want me to eat cake with you?"

She nodded.

He huffed and let her go and she followed after him into the kitchen.

Izumo saw when they came in and didn't comment on Anna's choice of wearing only that robe. She was home after all and it wasn't like there were any other patrons in the bar to sexually harass her. He smiled when he saw that she had on the jewelry given to her by three of the most the most important men in her life, one of who had been dead for a few years now. When they had been deciding on gifts for her, Mikoto had been the one to suggest that they give her Tatara's earring.

_"But it's only one earring," Izumo had pointed out. _

_"Another one could be made," _

Izumo had nodded at that and they had come up with this idea for her. Anna seemed to be really pleased and this was probably the first time in months he had seen her look genuinely happy. She went to the refrigerator and took out the remainder of her pretty birthday cake that had pink and white frosting with red roses at the top.

Mikoto hadn't eaten any quite yet. He probably felt too badly about not being there for her birthday to actually touch the cake.

Anna remained expressionless but the two men in the room with her could sense that she was really joyful right now about her gifts.

Izumo decided to leave the two alone. He had already had some cake and coffee with the princess anyway.

* * *

Mikoto's lion-like personality meant that he was the type to go after what he wanted and take it selfishly for himself. Had Anna been anyone else, and not the child he had cared for like a cub, he might have claimed her as his own a long time ago. In his own way, he exercised a possessive attitude toward her and did in his own way stake her as his territory.

But because she was _Anna_, someone he cared for deeply, a person he would probably give up everything for, Mikoto did not snatch her up for himself and he basically let her do whatever she wanted to. He wouldn't be selfish with her, even if a part of him wanted her totally and completely for himself.

_"Mikoto, your Sword of Damocles is slowly deteriorating again! Why don't you just tell Anna to come home more and to stay by your side?" Izumo had snapped at him recently._

_Mikoto shook his head. "Let her do what she wants. She should make her own choices-free of any concerns over me,"_

_That was the closest Mikoto had ever come to admitting that it was Anna and the tenderness they had once freely shown each other that had tamed the beastly power inside of him. With her gone more often, that affection had become more and more restrained, and that warmth had slowly dissipated until his power had started to riot inside of him again. _

_"You're an idiot, Mikoto," Izumo had growled at him because he knew that Anna would be more than happy to remain at Mikoto's side. _

_Mikoto didn't care for his friend's words even though they were probably true. _

As Anna ate her cake, some of it smudged on her cheek. Mikoto almost smiled as he observed her. It reminded him of the times when she was little and she would eat whenever Tatara gave her a large serving of omurice and little bits would end up on her cheek. It was a somewhat nostalgic.

But that robe Anna wore on that revealed the shapeliness of her body was enough to remind him that she wasn't a little girl anymore.

"Mikoto?" she said his name, cutting into his thoughts.

He blinked at her.

"Do you like the cake?"

"Yeah," he answered and took a bite out of it. For a week old cake, it certainly tasted pretty good.

Anna frowned at him but went back to her own piece. This was a shared moment for the two of them. They didn't need each other's words, just each other's presence as a comfort. These were rare occasions and Anna realized that this was the first time in quite a while that she had spent so much time with Mikoto...and since she had received so much affection from him, even if it was in little tidbits.

She would cherish this memory today and tomorrow, she would be in Seneca again.

* * *

**A/N: So here's the first chapter of the sequel to Growing Pains. It is a more introductory chapter to describe how Anna's relationship with everyone, especially Mikoto is right now. Hope you enjoyed it and look forward to more on it.  
An explanation for Anna's bruise will be given in the next chapter.**

****Mikoto's preference for half cooked meat is referred to in one of the Drama CDs. I think it's called 'O furo de danski-kai' (If I mixed it up, feel free to correct me). Check it out on Youtube.**

****Maria is a character from K: Memory of Red. I think it was the third chapter she showed up in (correct me if I'm wrong).**

****Mikoto's Sword of Damocles state is explained in Chapter 29-A Healing Sword, from Growing Pains.**

****Sayuri is Anna's boss at the maid cafe. See the last chapters (Chapter 47 and 48) of Growing Pains for an explanation on how Anna got the job etc. **

****By the way, 'Fated To Love You' really is a Taiwanese drama. I read the manga for it and I thought it was really, really overdramatized and awful although I actually became hooked on it. But that's just a matter of opinion because I've also heard that the TV drama is much better. If you've never seen it but want to end up reacting as Yata did, look it up :)**

**Until next time, God bless :)**

**PS: Let me know what your thoughts were on this chapter. **

**PPS: If you see any errors, feel free to correct me. I double checked the document, but they always exist somewhere, somehow :/**


	2. Anna's Job

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 2: Anna's Job**_

_She was taught kickboxing by Mikoto Suoh himself. She learned different forms of martial arts since the age of eleven because her clansmen taught her their own styles which she integrated into her own fighting method, along with the aikido which she excelled at in school._

_But that didn't make her invincible._

_Yes, she was strong._

_No, she was not powerless._

_But she could still get hurt. _

_There were bruises on her body and marks on her skin that she fought very hard to hide from her clansmen, whether it be by wearing on longer clothes or using make up. Anna did not want to think about what would happen if they ever actually saw them. __However, there were times when she could picture Izumo dropping a precious glass from his bar in shock, Yata freezing in terror, Kamamoto suddenly forgetting about food...and Mikoto...Mikoto suddenly becoming engulfed in his red aura and demanding in his quiet frightening tone with red glowing eyes, "Who did this?"_

_Thankfully, no one knew anything much yet. _

_But this bruise-this one that she got from the man who had just slammed his fist into her face...well she was gonna be in big trouble if that order of specialized make up didn't arrive in time to cover the mar to her white skin. _

_Anna Kushina fell to the floor from the impact of the yakuza's fist, but she quickly used the strength in her foot to slam it into his ankle, effectively damaging it. _

_Someone came at her from the back, but Satoshi caught hold of him and dealt with him. The next person came up to her and wound up getting tased by Kei. _

_Kei chuckled uncomfortably as he saw the bruise on Anna's face. Akemi was going to kick his ass for that because he had been the one to insist that they take on this job. _

_As for the drug lord who the yakuza were working for, he was flat on the ground, gazing up at the girl with the red hair fearfully. _

_He wasn't some weak guy. He was a strong man who grew up among street gangs and rose to prominence by selling drugs in the underground world!_

_Yet, he couldn't stand up to the pretty girl with long red hair who slammed her foot into his face. _

"_Who the hell are you?" he demanded of the girl._

_She was dressed in a black top with frilly straps and a red corset. On her hands were matching hand warmers that reached from about an inch after her elbow and down her forearms to just a bit over her fingers. There was a ruffled lace edge that covered more of her fingers. _

_She wore on these strange pants he had never ever seen anyone where, except in probably certain parts of Tokyo where any style was accepted no matter how outrageous-the pants were short and fitted but there was another material,with more black ruffled lace that came up to above her knees and was attached to the short pants the way stockings were attached to a garter belt._

_It was a strange style, but the girl was very beautiful. She had a beautiful body that, despite how easy it was to maneuver into fighting, looked very feminine. _

"_Alright, I'll come with you!" the man finally gave in and Kei grabbed him by the back and took him away while Satoshi and three other guys grabbed hold of the men they had beaten up and took them away._

* * *

Over time, Kei and Satoshi had grown taller and had become more handsome. Kei still retained that caramel colored hair and that smile that was so disturbingly like Tatara's. Anna could claim that the eighteen year old was almost as tall as her dead friend had been as well.

Due to his anemia, Kei still remained inactive in sports but he did still try to some mixed martial arts training to help him in the 'jobs' he, Anna and Akemi were largely responsible for. He had wound up in the hospital several times for overdoing it.

Satoshi willingly helped them out when they would need it-himself and a couple of the other guys from school who were renting apartments in the area as well.

Satoshi had become a bit more fit over time and his normally pale skin had a slight tan on it which making him look healthier. He still had dark hair, and Ume was still his girlfriend. They had had problems occasionally, but they stuck by each other. Once they were even voted as 'cutest couple' in High School.

So what exactly was Anna, Akemi and Kei up to?

Well, the town of Seneca just had a guise of peacefulness because it was a place where prestigious students attended.

It was peaceful because the Natsume family had their guards-all of whom were Red Clan members-patrol the area both in casual clothing and in uniform.

That didn't mean that Seneca didn't attract criminals.

Due to its rich residents who were mainly the off-spring of elite families who lived in the area, kidnappers did come into the town quite often enough. They saw Seneca as a money area and flocked there, despite the risk and the high security in as they had high hopes of getting a kid or two as hostage. Over the years, no one had ever actually been successful, so one might think that the kidnappers would become deterred from their actions.

That wasn't true.

They simply looked for smarter ways of infiltrating the town although Seneca Town did have guards posted on its boundary in the mountains.

The police were often swamped with trying to deal with these criminals and often offered rewards information on the criminals, and even bounties on certain men's heads.

Anna had unintentionally beat up a robber when she was fourteen and when they had taken him in, they had been given a hefty sum as a reward.

Originally, they hadn't planned on getting involved in bounty hunting or in any sort of Private Investigator work.

However, Anna, Akemi and Kei did need extra money.

* * *

_Anna and Akemi walked side by side to their rented apartment on this blustery August day. Soon, school would reopen for them. Anna was still fourteen, but Akemi would become sixteen at the turn of the month. The rules at Seneca stipulated that at age sixteen, with parental consent, Akemi, as an independent teenager, could rent an apartment in Seneca Town._

_She and Anna had been allowed to keep one over this Summer because they had been allowed to take on jobs. Since the dorms of the High School were cleaned during the Summer and the working students would need somewhere to stay, they were allowed to rent in Seneca Town. They were also given additional funding to help them with the apartment from the school's administration._

_Akemi had decided to keep the apartment and Anna would stay over often because it was more convenient for her, with her work at the maid cafe. After all, staying in the Town would be better for her. It would not be officially on paper that she lived outside of the school because she was currently not old enough, but the school's administration would allow it as long as the parents or guardians were aware of it. Anna would also have to return from time to time to stay with the Natsume family in Seneca because she was still underaged._

_The Natsume family was sad at her decisions, but surprisingly, Yuki understood it the most. She had a deep understanding of Anna and tended to be very lenient with her, but that was also because she trusted Anna and knew that she was not a troublesome child. _

_Izumo didn't have a problem with Anna staying outside of the school's dorms from time to time because he and Mikoto had allowed it over the Summer holidays. He also knew that the security was top notch in there._

_Anna didn't mind helping Akemi with the rent, but the problem was that although the maid cafe did pay them pretty well, they did not have enough work hours available to them because of school and therefore they may not have enough money to keep the apartment when Akemi turned sixteen. By then, the school would remove its Summer funding._

_Kei was waiting for the pair of girls who were trying to figure out some way to keep their apartment. They really did like it a lot. _

_It was a two bedroom place with a small living room and lacquered floors. There was not really much covering on the floors save for the large rug in the living room where a single sofa lay atop it. They had a television and their bathroom was spacious enough and often kept clean. The girls had separate rooms where Anna's was to the right and Akemi's was to the left and there was a door for each one that led to them from the living room. The kitchen was neat and tidy and was closeby the living room._

_There were no fancy furnishings, just the basic things that they needed. _

_But they had made this their home for the last two months or so. They didn't really want to live elsewhere. _

"_What's that?" Akemi asked Kei who was holding a flyer._

_He showed it to them. _

_It was the picture of a man who had tried to infiltrate Seneca many times. It seemed that this time he had actually gotten through and the police needed extra information on him. _

"_Six thousand yen and up depending on what information you give. Thirty thousand reward for actually finding him," Kei told them._

_The girls looked at each other, then at him. _

"_That's dangerous, Kei, and I know you want to rely on Anna to do all the work," Akemi was telling their friend. Akemi was still a very pretty girl with her big blue eyes and curly golden hair. _

_Kei smiled in a very friendly manner. "No, no. What sort of friend would I be if I did that?"_

"_You obviously want to make some extra cash and the only person who actually has any skills in this area is Anna. That isn't fair to her, Kei."_

_In response, Kei caught Akemi around the waist and pulled her to him._

_He smiled so warmly that flowers seemed to bloom around his head. Akemi grew frightened._

_He was behaving sadistic again. "What sort of person do you take me for, sweet Akemi?"_

_In response, she knocked away his arm and ran to hide behind Anna who simply waited for him to talk. _

_So, he explained, "Look, even I will need some extra money even though I'm already sixteen. My brother was helping me out before but now he got a girlfriend so he's decided to act cheaply and stop spending on me."_

"_Tough," Akemi said behind Anna and Kei shot her a beautiful smile that made her cringe. _

"_My point is that we each have different skills among us. I mean, Anna can obviously fight and she can track things down. I'm good with computers, Akemi you're good with tracking money and acting. If we put our skills together, maybe we can get something done and earn some extra finance. What do you think?"_

_Anna and Akemi looked at each other._

_Why not?_

_They needed the money anyway._

* * *

_Their first real job had tracking down that guy who had infiltrated Seneca Town. That wasn't hard to do because Anna used her marbles to find him. They could have stopped there and tipped off the police but Kei and Akemi knew that they also had to earn their keep because then they would be making money out of Anna's work which was not fair to her, even if Anna herself didn't seem to mind. Plus, they would get thirty thousand as a reward for handing him in. _

_So, Kei, being a bit of a computer tech, used his laptop to hack the system of the building where the man was staying and he was able to even get into the man's computer, where he discovered who exactly he was aiming for._

_From there, Akemi went on to observe the person the man was aiming for and on the night he decided to attack the person, they ambushed him. Anna, of course, beat him up. Akemi used a taser Kei had to knock him out and Kei was the one, despite his slender build, to drag him down to the police station._

_And that was how they started up their little business._

_They had decided that for Anna's sake, she should wear on wigs to hide who she was. They didn't want anyone to learn of their activities._

_One, because none of their guardians would allow it._

_Two, because the school's administration would not allow it._

_Three, because Sayuri-san would be against it as she would not like the idea of her employees getting into dangerous activities. _

_They all eventually used disguises and used some of their own money to purchase wigs and fake body parts. Kei had once actually dressed as a woman and he had made quite a pretty woman too-much to Akemi's amusement._

_Over time, they got involved in more dangerous cases. Satoshi and some of his friends had needed to earn some extra money at times and Kei, knowing that they were strong, commissioned them to help them out. They didn't know that it was really Anna doing the fighting, neither did they know that Akemi was involved in it too, but they did suspect it because Kei was the one who asked them and the only people he seemed close to were the two girls. _

_When questioned by the school's administration as to how Akemi could afford to keep the apartment, she told them her father was helping._

_That was a big fat lie. Her father hadn't contributed a cent toward her. _

_Despite this, their schedules originally had not allowed them the ability to run their little investigative/bounty hunting business very often. They could not abandon their jobs at the maid cafe because first and foremost, Sayuri hired them when they were in need of jobs and she treated them quite well. Secondly, they needed to have valid jobs that would allow them to stay outside of the schools anyway. _

_Hence, for their second year of High School, the trio did more investigative work and mostly tipped off the police to get rewards for the information they gave. This supplemented their incomes and therefore they were able to keep their apartments._

_However, both Akemi and Kei were uncertain about how their financial situation would be after High School and if they wanted to go off to college, if they were unsure about whether or not they would have enough finance available to them to continue on comfortably. _

_There was currently no guarantee that any of them were getting a full scholarship. Kei wanted to study abroad but his parents wouldn't be able to support him unless he had a scholarship of some sort. Akemi wanted to study Theatre Arts at a prestigious school in Japan but her step-mother, jealous of Akemi's deceased mother and her acting ability, was trying to sway Christopher Hisoka from supporting his daughter's dream._

_As Akemi had come to realize by now, her father was totally unreliable so she knew she had to start from now to save if she wanted to fulfill her dream._

_Anna, unlike the other two, didn't really know what she wanted. When she left Seneca, she would be returning to Homra. If she wanted to continue into college, her clansmen would by all means support her. _

_Yet, how things currently were with her feeling as though they were drifting further and further away from her, she wondered if she should try to earn as much money as possible as well to support herself in the event that she decided to do something life changing._

_Izumo hadn't signed over her parents' money to her yet and he still insisted on her relying on him so she figured that she should try to get money for herself to support any future decision she might have._

_Although realistically, the only dream she really had was to return to Homra for good and to stay at Mikoto's side where they could continue just being the Red Clan, where everything was just...normal._

_She then, like Akemi and Kei, studied very hard in the first term of their final year in High School. They survived on ramen cup noodles and worked themselves to the bone to support themselves and finish up as many classes as possible during that term so that for the rest of the school year, they could focus more on bounty hunting. _

_And they did just that. Anna and Akemi only had one class they needed to attend per week once school opened in January. Kei would have two, but both of them were easy classes and he would probably cop out on them if necessary (and if he could get away with ditching class because Seneca High was very strict when it came to classroom attendance). They would have time off from the maid cafe as they all worked the same shift on the same days and they would have certain days off and evenings free to do their other 'job'. _

* * *

"What would your family do if they knew what you were up to?" Akemi asked Anna after handing her something to remove make up.

"They would be unhappy," Anna answered.

Akemi nodded. She wasn't surprised. The pair had just returned from work at the maid cafe. Anna liked that job, she liked her uniform and she liked the people there.

She was given the name 'Sumiko' by Sayuri for she felt that for her employee's safety, and because it was probably cute too, she would give them different names other than their real ones.

Sumiko seemed to suit Anna for it meant 'pure thinking child' and because Anna was so pale, and her hair had that white color with a silvery shine, she was often regarded as someone pure. Therefore, she was called 'Sumiko'.

Anna had come across some interesting and occasionally _familiar_ characters at the maid cafe from time to time.

"_I apologize for the delay but we're a bit short staffed today! However, I will have one of my best employees, Sumiko, come serve you!" the owner of the maid cafe told the young man and his girlfriend._

_Fushimi Saruhiko made a soft tsk. "I don't know why you wanted to come here," he grumbled._

_Chie, to his side shrugged. "You didn't have to come."_

"_You insisted."_

"_You told me to come," Fushimi countered._

_Before Chie could respond, a voice said, "Okaerinasaimase, goshujinsama."_

_Fushimi was surprised at the familiarity of that voice and he went very still at the sight of the girl bowing to him in the pretty maid outfit of red and white lace and ruffles and ribbons. The girl's hair was loose and combed out neatly so that it spilled over her shoulders and down her back as she straightened._

_That strikingly familiar face disturbed him for it had become even more pretty since he had last seen it. _

"_I am Sumiko," Anna told him with a straight face. "and I shall be your maid today."_

_Fushimi made soft huff. "Sumiko, huh?"_

_Anna said nothing and led him and Chie to their table. Chie had noted the change in Fushimi's behavior when he had caught sight of the maid and she eyed him with a frown._

_As they were seated, Anna gave them a menu each, however, Fushimi waved off his. "I just want some coffee."_

_"Too much coffee is bad for you, Fushimi-kun," Chie told him._

_He shot her an angry look. "Why do you keep calling me that? You know I don't like it."_

_Chie replied coolly, "Sometimes it's difficult to tell what you like and what you do not like, **Fushimi**-**kun**,"_

_In reply, Fushimi reached out and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb as he told her quite calmly, "My name is Saruhiko. I want you to call me that,"_

_Chie pulled away with a tsk although her cheeks were red. "Fine-**Saruhiko**,"_

_Fushimi smirked and leaned against his chair. _

_Seeing as their little interaction was over, Anna spoke again. _

"_What kind of coffee would you like? We have Caramel latte, French Vanilla-"_

"_Just plain coffee. You do serve that here, don't you?" he snapped. _

_Anna simply nodded, seemingly unaffected by his grouchiness. _

"_Fushimi, why are you be so rude to her?" Chie demanded. _

"_I told you to call me-"_

"_Not when you're being grumpy!" Chie retorted and Fushimi immediately quieted._

_He glanced through the menu and began to mumble out, "What's up with you and that 'Sumiko' business, huh? How come these idiots at Homra are letting you work? Isn't this child labor?"_

_To a normal person, it would sound like the Blue clansman was being very rude but both Anna and Chie understood that Fushimi was actually displaying concern over the girl. He didn't like that she had to work and he did not feel that it was right that her clansmen let her do so. In his mind, Anna should be at home in Homra, relaxing and watching television and doing something girly._

"_I wanted to work," Anna explained._

_Chie suddenly realized where she knew Anna from. "Oh, you're Yatagarasu's little cousin, aren't you?"_

_Anna gave a slight nod. Well, they weren't blood related but that was what Yata had told Emi when he had wanted to introduce her to them. Yata was like family anyway so Anna saw no reason to tell Chie otherwise. _

"_I remember you from that time," Chie continued. 'That time' referred to the incident with Iwao. Chie had never really interacted with her, but she had seen her and had heard Emi occasionally mention something about 'Misaki's pretty little cousin'. "I never expected you to work here. Do you like it?"_

_Anna nodded. _

_Chie suddenly asked thoughtfully, "Saruhiko is familiar with you. Is he like family too?"_

_Fushimi was surprised when Anna made a soft noise of assertion. _

_He glanced up at the girl who had known from when she was so little. She had grown into quite a beauty and there was a part of him that wanted to protect her still, to this very day. _

_And even if he wouldn't admit it, he was pleased by Anna's agreement that he was like family. He clicked his tongue, quite annoyed although his cheeks were slightly red. _

_Chie smiled beautifully and Fushimi looked away so he wouldn't get entranced by her. "You believe he has a big heart, huh?"_

_Anna nodded. _

"_Shut up about me already and order something."_

_Chie's eyes on him went cold. "I don't know why she thinks a jerk like you has a big heart," Then, on a more warm tone, she said to Anna, "I'd like a strawberry sundae, please,"_

_Anna wrote it down and went to get their orders for them._

"_You really care for that girl," Chie told him._

"_I don't like her anymore than I like you," Fushimi told her coldly but Chie grinned at him. She did know him well enough by now to know that he was saying the opposite of what he really meant._

_When Anna, ever the perfect waitress, returned with their orders, Fushimi questioned, "How's the dog?"_

_Chie was confused as to who exactly was the 'dog', but Anna knew **exactly** who he was referring to. _

"_'Crow'," she corrected._

"_Eh?"_

"_Misaki is a crow, not a dog," she explained. _

_Before Fushimi could say anything, Anna added, "He mentioned you the last time I saw him,"_

_There was no denying that the Blue Clansman was suddenly interested. "Misaki did?"_

_Anna nodded. "His exact words were 'I don't understand why a nice girl like Chie-san goes out with a creepy monkey like Saru'."_

_Fushimi's hands fisted on the table and he scowled darkly while Chie covered her mouth to hide her laughter. _

_The glasses clad man proceeded to grumble, almost to himself again, "Misaki can go to hell for all I care. That damned dog has no business saying that, considering he's a lolicon without a loli so he goes after flat chested-OW! What are you doing, Chie?!"_

_Chie was pinching his ear tightly. She released him. "Stop insulting Emi! And why are you always looking at her chest?"_

_"Well, to be honest, there's nothing really on that chest to look at..." His words were cut off when Chie reached across the table and caught him by his neck, seemingly choking him. "Let go! Let go!"_

_"You stupid jerk! Your obsession with Emi's boyfriend can make any girl insecure! I want you to stop mooning after Yatagarasu and I want you to stop eying Emi's chest or there'll be hell to pay!" she threatened and let him go._

_Other customers had looked around to see what all the shouting was about. Anna let out a weary sigh. Then, with a dead serious face and a strong gaze on the pair, Anna told them, "If you insist on causing a scene, you will both have to leave,"_

_The two were surprised at how strict she sounded although her tone of voice and expression didn't change. Immediately they settled down._

_"Hey, who's the Totsuka lookalike at the door?" Fushimi suddenly asked Anna before she left._

_Anna glanced at the entrance where Kei was opening the door for a pair of pretty girls who blushed upon the sight of him. _

_"He's an employee here," she responded._

_Fushimi lifted his cup. "I know that. Is he related to Tatara?"_

_Anna shook her head. _

_Fushimi's attention went to the young man again while he sipped some of his coffee. Meanwhile, Anna moved to handle a customer who wanted to order something else from the menu. _

_Even Fushimi found that resemblance to Tatara rather strange._

_Before he left with Chie, he made sure to leave Anna an extra large tip, secretly hoping she bought herself something pretty and girlish with it. _

* * *

Akemi's cafe name was 'Yukiko' which meant 'rare child'. It suited her for she did not have the everyday look of an average Japanese person because her mixed blood showed more than her Japanese. Hardly anyone looked like her, and even when she spent time in Europe, people often tried to guess her ethnicity because when she spoke, despite her fluency in up to four languages including English, French, German and Japanese, she did have a very mild accent whenever she spoke in any of the different tongues.

Not only that, people often took her for being a demure, quiet, cool beauty.

That was far from the truth as Akemi could be quiet fierce and assertive and was even considered by Kei as a secretive otaku.

She was therefore considered a rarity wherever she went.

"_For there is no other like Akemi,"_ Sayuri had stated when they had first started working there.

As for Kei, his cafe name was simply 'Ko' which meant various things including 'happiness' and 'peace' because Kei could make the people around him quite happy and had the ability to create a pleasant atmosphere.

* * *

"I need to get more make up," Anna told her friend when she finished wiping away the make up from her face.

Akemi looked at her friend with pity. Anna had told her earlier that Mikoto had found out about the bruise and she had barely got away with lying to him. Akemi knew Anna hated lying and there were times when she had suggested that maybe Anna should just let her family know what she was doing.

Anna had refused to do so. Akemi supposed that Anna simply had her own reasons for not doing so but Akemi, for some reason, did not think that Anna's activities in Seneca would be that awful to the people she lived with.

"Yes, I'll order some for you," Akemi told her.

To get make up to match Anna's skin was difficult. It was so pale that it was rare in most cosmetic stores, even in Seneca to get them. Sayuri had been the one to recommend a website for the girls in case they wanted any make-up. She didn't believe they would actually need it because they were so pretty anyway, but she had still let them know because they were girls and girls did like dressing up.

Anna nodded to her friend's words as she got up from the footstool in the living room to put the cloth which she had used to remove the make up into the trashbin that was in the kitchen.

Akemi stood up and followed as she wanted something to drink.

"Kei said he's coming over in a little while with some stuff to make up for that job last week that gave you that bruise. He was the one who insisted anyway."

Anna nodded as she tossed the cloth into the trash bin next to the sink.

The girls proceeded to go shower and get ready. Kei was probably coming over with a pizza and they would probably watch some movies together.

He liked to sit in the middle of the sofa and put his arms around both girls.

Anna would remain in one position, hardly moving-sometimes Kei wondered if she ever blinked while Akemi would sometimes unintentionally wind up dozing away on his shoulder.

"_Ah, Akemi, if only you were always so peaceful like this," he had once said to her, thinking she had completely dropped asleep._

_In reply, he was given a hard pinch that made him yelp and leap from the couch. "You bitch! I thought you were asleep!"_

_Akemi stuck her tongue out and flipped him her middle finger. "You are so stupid, Kei."_

"_Does that mean that you pretend to fall asleep just so that you could lay your head on my shoulder?" Kei asked her flirtatiously._

_Akemi cursed and walked off to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her._

"_What's with her?" Kei questioned Anna who had ignored the pair in favor of the movie. _

_Anna shrugged. _

_Kei **was** pretty dumb when it came to Akemi's feelings for him. It made Anna wonder if most guys were really plain idiots when it came to these sorts of things, or whether it was an issue of the female mind. _

Anna was wearing on a long sleeved red, plaid shirt to sleep with along with matching pants to keep her safe from the cold.

"I don't get how you wear that kind of stuff here even though it's winter. It's always warm enough," Akemi said as she came out with a black sleeping shirt and a towel around her head which she proceeded to strip off so that her long golden hair bounced down in long, pretty curls.

Anna didn't say anything.

She grew up in a clan where warmth-both physical and emotional-was rampant. She had never become accustomed to the freezing weather in Seneca. In fact, the only time she believed herself to have been warm enough had been when Mikoto, Izumo and Yata had been in Seneca.

"Hey Anna?" Akemi said suddenly.

Anna glanced around to look at her friend.

They were in the living room, waiting for Kei to arrive.

"What is it, Akemi?"

"How are things with you and Mikoto-san?" she questioned.

Anna didn't say anything but there was a shift in her eyes that indicated that things weren't really all that great.

Akemi had questioned her about her new jewelry and Anna had told her that her 'brothers' had given them to her, but still...there was still a lot of things that weren't exactly 'right' between Anna and Mikoto. Akemi could sense this for whenever she asked Anna about Mikoto, it seemed that the girl would somehow become gloomy.

"He told me 'goodbye' when I left," she informed Akemi.

Akemi frowned. "That's...bad?"

"He used to hug me before I leave," Anna explained and Akemi gave her a sad look.

_Mikoto's room was dark when she entered. She tapped his shoulder and he rolled onto his back. Not needing to wait for his eyes to adjust to recognize that it was Anna, he questioned, "Are you leaving?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Bye."_

_Anna paused while he moved onto his side again with his back facing her. What happened to the times when he would grab onto her like an octopus and refuse to let go until Izumo came in and had to wrangle her away from him?_

_"Something wrong?" Mikoto questioned as he realized she hadn't left yet. _

_"No," she responded quietly. "Absolutely **nothing** is wrong." _

_Then, she left._

Akemi suddenly looked a bit thoughtful.

"You know Anna, what if it is that he has sexual feelings for you too?"

Anna blinked at her friend. Then she turned away. "Not possible," she said as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Maybe he hides it from you," Akemi suggested as she followed after Anna.

Both girls were barefoot.

"Mikoto sees me as a child."

Akemi caught her friend's arm as she touched the refrigerator's door and she spun her around forcefully. Akemi smirked

"You don't look or act like a child, I bet he knows that and he doesn't want to admit that he's sexually attracted to you."

Anna's eyebrows furrowed at her friend's strange behavior.

Akemi had her hands on either side of Anna's head as she smiled a bit deviously.

"I bet he's the kind of guy who doesn't care for lingerie or anything like that. All you have to do is wait for him naked in bed."

Anna's eyes widened at the change in her friend's tone. Akemi was a person who, once getting into character for a role, became totally and completely immersed into it. Her voice changed and her body language changed.

For some reason, Akemi seemed to be playing the role of a seductress right now and she somehow got herself lost in that character.

Not only that, for some reason Anna didn't doubt anything Akemi was saying.

Her friend's face came closer to hers until those bright blue eyes were hardly an inch away from wide gray ones.

"I bet his touch his rough," With that, one of Akemi's hands abruptly grabbed Anna's waist. "but surprisingly gentle."

Slowly her hand soothed upward on her stomach.

Akemi's head lowered until her mouth reached Anna's ear so that she could whisper softly, "I think he's the kind of man who will dominate your body, play you like an instrument and make you his own, _totally_ and _completely_,"

Anna swallowed hard. She didn't doubt a single thing Akemi was saying and damn it, it sounded so thrilling that it made Anna, who fought against the desire to be touched by Mikoto in a sexual way, suddenly long for him to actually do so even more.

"Er...did I come in at a bad time?" came Kei's voice.

Akemi froze and blinked. Abruptly, she let go of Anna and glanced around at Kei.

"Didn't you knock?" she questioned.

Kei smiled, looking very much like Tatara as he did so. "Of course I did, but you were so focused on seducing Anna, you didn't hear me,"

Anna walked away from the kitchen area and to the living room while Kei greeted her with a pat on her head.

"I'm sorry about making us take on that job, Anna."

Anna fiddled with the ring on her finger that had been given to her by Mikoto. Her thoughts were mostly on what Akemi had just said to her. "It's alright," she accepted, "you called Satoshi and the others in time."

Kei smiled apologetically still before going over to Akemi who waited for him with folded arms.

"Just how much did you hear?" Akemi demanded as Kei handed her the extra large pizza he had brought with him.

"Only that you were trying to get Anna sexually frustrated over someone," he replied.

Akemi set the pizza box down on the counter.

"I was not!" she snapped.

Kei, behind her, grasped her by the waist with both hands, startling her.

He brought his mouth to her ear and whispered. "What about me, Akemi-chan. How do you think I would be in bed?"

Akemi began to struggle by Kei's arms went around hers, locking her to him.

"I don't know and I don't _want_ to know!" she snapped.

Kei chuckled, a bit darkly as he pressed his mouth to her cheek while one of his hands slid to her stomach and began to unbutton her night shirt, startling her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Anna turned around and observed the pair.

Kei turned Akemi around and trapped her against the counter with his body. He began to press soft kisses along the side of her face.

"I would seduce you slowly and easily. I would caress your body, touch all your sweet points until..."

"Kei," Anna cut in, startling him.

He realized then that Akemi's cheeks were very red and her eyes were filled with tears.

Kei drew back and laughed happily. "It's just a joke, sweet Akemi! It's just like those perverted mangas you read, aren't they?"

Akemi shoved him off and walked past him. "You'd have to be married to me first before you do any of that kind of stuff!"

Kei lost his smile and had a confused look on his face.

"I don't want to marry you."

Akemi shot him a very angry look.

He sighed and walked toward Anna. "What did I do?" he questioned.

"Too much," the pale haired girl responded.

"But I was just doing to you what you did to Anna!" Kei pointed out to Akemi after returning his attention to her.

In response, Akemi glowered at him. "The relationship Anna and I have is different from the relationship I have with you!"

Kei looked taken aback, hurt even. "What are you trying to say? That I mean even less than her to you?!"

"No, you dumbass! I mean because you have a penis our relationship is different," she replied. Then she folded her arms and explained, "the relationship between a male and a female is different to the relationship two females have and two males have."

Kei gave a slight frown. "I never thought of it that way,"

"Well, here's a thought for you-would you ever treat Satoshi and his friends the way you treat Anna and I?"

Placing his arms around two guys while they watched television, grabbing one and hugging and kissing him just because he said something offensive?

Kei, the womanizer...would he do that...with a _guy_?

The expression on his face was enough answer.

He sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. Point taken. But this should make up for it!"

In his hands were what looked like two six stacks of bright red juice boxes.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! I want to shorten the chapters a bit because when I write up to 10,000 plus words, the chapters become a bit cumbersome.**

**Now you know how Anna got that bruise. **

**This chapter deals with more technical stuff so I apologize for the lack of Anna/Mikoto. The next chapter will have some mentions of Tatara. **

***Ume and Satoshi were mentioned in Chapter 28: Finder's Finding Out from GP. **

**** In case you may have forgotten, the robber who Anna dealt with is the same guy from Chapter 47: Growing from GP. That Chapter also has some mentions of Emi's 'flat chestedness' as well as how Anna got hired in the maid cafe etc. **

*****Chapters 44 and 45 of GP also handles what happened with Iwao.**

******Chapter 9 of GP has when Mikoto started to teach Anna how to fight. **

**Okay, I don't think I need to refer back to anymore chapters. **

**Thanks for all the support on this sequel. Thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and reviewed this story so far. **

**For all who reviewed:**

**_Little Weirdo: Hope you're enjoying it so far!_  
**

**_danihasacookie: Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked those parts in the last chapters of GP, and in the first chapter of this sequel. Now you know how Anna got that bruise. School sounds really rough on you, I hope that you're getting through with everything. Good luck with the essay! Study hard, pray hard and I know you will do well :) You have a wonderful day and/or night as well :)_**

**_Mandy Lestange: I think you might have reviewed before because your username is familiar. Either way, I hope that this story pleases you as much as Growing Pains did :)_**

**_Indochine: *pats on back* I understand. Keep counting it down and it will be over soon! My exams are over for now so I'm more relaxed and I can focus on this story now. This chapter as well does refer to some of the stuff that happened over the last two years or so. I guess I want to deal with some of the technical stuff first even though I really want to get into the meat of it :) Yes, Chitose is gonna be a daddy. Really soon too! And you are right, there are a lot of troublesome and sweet moments to come ;) You take care as well :)_**

**_xxtoushiro: I'm glad you love it and I hope you keep on liking it :)_**

**_magicalnana: I really have heard that the drama is really nice. I may or may not watch it because I'm not really a fan of dramas and I'm afraid I might start crying if I look at it. There will definitely be more lovey-dovey moments :)_**

**_Arius the Heretic: Seriously? You're starting college this month? That's rather soon because I remember just recently you told me that you hadn't gotten into the college you wanted to, but you did get into another really good one. Wow, time does fly. Good luck with college and I hope you enjoy yourself when you get there :)_**

**_kuronekousako: I'm really glad you liked those parts in the chapter and I hope you keep enjoying the new chapters when I post them up :)_**

**_blueyes775: You sound so excited that you're making me excited! It makes me want to post the next chapter up right away! Unfortunately I haven't started it yet, but God willing it will be up soon :)_**

**_Emberofimagination: Hello there, and it's nice to hear from you! I think it took me approximately 10 days to post up the sequel. Well, don't feel badly. I only hope you got the same enjoyment of reading it as everyone else did :) I double checked the document again and edited out some of the errors that I picked up on which are basically what you pointed out-the redundancies and the run on sentences. I might actually take you up on the offer of becoming my beta one of these days. I currently don't have one but I prefer to edit the documents myself. I think the major problem is that the chapters I've written recently have gotten rather long and the longer they are, the more difficult it is for me to spot the errors. I'm really grateful for your offer though and if you want (you don't have to force yourself in any kind of way) you can PM me any errors you see or leave them in a review, whatever is more convenient for you. Hope you enjoyed this chapter even though there wasn't a lot of Anna/Mikoto in it :)_**

**_AndieVC: Hope work was better for you today and hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)_**

**_xNightDreamerx: Dude...I'm tempted to watch the drama despite how much I wanted to toss my computer out after reading some of that horrible manga (I was like WTH?) but I keep picturing myself crying over it. I'll probably get around to watching it some time soon :)_**

**_nannerlovessnickers: Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)_**

**_laxus23: Maybe ;)_**

**_XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: Now you know she got that bruise, among others :)_**

**_Ihadyprilla: I was wondering where you went off to! Are you sure you really didn't go off to war? Lol I'm joking. Hope you're enjoying the chapters you missed :)_**

**_Flower 117: Chitose's baby will be coming soon ;) To answer your questions: no, I don't plan on reviving Tatara (sorry :'() although I have decided that if I do write another K fanfic, I will make him alive in it. In this story though, there are going to be a lot of mentions of him, including in the next chapter. The Seri/Izumo/Reisi love triangle is left to your imagination. If you prefer her to be with Izumo, you can picture them having a love affair behind the scenes while still being a part of Scepter 4. If you prefer her with Reisi, you can picture them having some good times during after work hours. I wanted to write two extra chapters-one for if she had ended up with Reisi and another for if she had chosen Izumo but I don't quite have the time as I'm focusing on the sequel. Hope this answer helps :)_**

**_Bre Renee: Just in time! I was now about to post this chapter when I saw your review! Glad you liked the first chapter, and I'm really happy that you're keeping up with the sequel :)_**

**Thanks again and I hope I didn't forget to mention anyone. If I did, I love you still. **

**Let me know your thoughts on this chapter.**

**Until next time, God bless :)**

**PS: The juice Kei was holding is special. **


	3. Juice

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: Before you read this chapter, please make sure that you have read Chapter 12 of K: Memory of Red. I am also counting on the fact that you have read the prequel to this story because there are a lot of flashbacks, some included from the previous story which I am not going to go into a lot of detail with. I will refer back to the necessary chapters at the end of the document. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 3: Juice**_

_Izumo knew fine quality wine quite well. He travelled the world to find it. Thus far, his favorite red wines came from France and Italy while his favorite white wines came from South Africa. Of course, he never had to leave Japan to find good sake as he had never really come across anywhere else that produced such perfect rice wine as in his homeland of Japan. _

_There were currently three crystal clear wine glasses with a little bit of ruby red wine in each one on the bar's counter. Izumo was behind the counter, leaning on an his forearms while Anna was sitting on a bar stool, listening to what he was telling her. _

_He had been bored as today was a slow day and having a mini-adult around like Anna did serve to alleviate his boredom. _

_And give him a sense of fulfillment for passing on his grand knowledge of liquor to a youngster. _

"_You see, Anna, fine quality wine is not simply what your taste buds like. It's all about complexity," Izumo was teaching her. He lifted one glass and stirred it around. Then he sniffed it. "It's all about what you smell and the different flavors that rise up. Here, try it," he suggested and pressed the glass under her nose. _

_She took a whiff and he removed it. "How does it smell?"_

"_Sour," she responded. _

_Izumo chuckled. "Well, that's quite normal. I suppose a child's nose isn't as well trained as an adult's but this one has a wide variety of flavors. Compare it with this one,"_

_He held another glass for her to sniff. _

"_How does it smell?"_

"_The scent isn't as high as the other one," was her answer._

"_Exactly. The more pungent a wine is means that it has a possible higher quality," Izumo replaced that glass and picked up the third glass. "Then there's always the taste test. When tasting wine, one must be able to recognize the wide variety of flavors on the tongue,"_

"_Are you going to let Anna taste the wine?" Tatara questioned. He had been making lunch when Izumo had decided to teach Anna a little about wine. _

"_Maybe when she's older," he replied. _

_Tatara, with a big smile on his face, approached the pair. "Why not give her some? Let her learn a little about alcohol from a young age!"_

"_Are you telling me to get an eight year old drunk?" Izumo demanded._

_Tatara chuckled. "Of course not! Look, just a taste, right?" He picked up a glass, then lifted a finger and dipped it into one before he pressed his finger to Anna's mouth. _

_She tasted the wine on his finger. _

"_What a lewd man you are," Izumo commented. _

"_It only depends on what your intentions are," Tatara replied, still smiling. _

_Anna's face twisted a little at the taste. _

"_Does Anna like it?"_

_She shook her head. "It's...sour...and it tastes rotten,"_

"_That was a dry wine you gave her, Tatara. She may prefer sweet wine,"_

"_Ah? Is that so?,"_

"_Here, let her try this one," _

_Once more, Tatara dipped his finger into the wine and held it to Anna's mouth. She tasted it again and then blinked. _

"_You like this one?" he questioned her. _

_She nodded._

"_Anna knows fine quality wine then. That one you gave her a very special high class type," Izumo said. He then gave Tatara the two glasses he had used. "you'll be drinking this."_

"_But-"_

"_Now, now, Tatara. I can't give a child wine to drink and you don't want my stock to go to waste, do you?"_

* * *

"This is bad quality wine," Anna told Kei as she poured some of the 'juice' from the contents of its little package. It was basically wine in a juice box-an adult drink hidden inconspicuously inside something so child-like.

"How do you know that?" Kei demanded with folded arms.

"The color-"

"You said that about the last bit I got,"

"The scent," Anna continued as if she hadn't heard him as she swirled it around and sniffed it.

Kei scowled. "Well, _you_ buy the wine next time,"

"Only you can get away with it, Kei," Akemi was saying from the couch as she flipped through the television channels. "the guy you buy from thinks you're nineteen and since the drinking age is twenty, he only lets you get these because you can get away with it since they look like kiddie juice packs."

"These wines aren't good, Kei," Anna continued and took a sip.

Kei snorted. "That doesn't stop you from ever drinking them,"

Yes, Anna was an underage drinker. She had only had drunken this wine twice before. The last time was after that job when she got the bruise. The time before that was about two months previously.

At both times she had had no more than one pack or two.

"How do you know so much about wine anyway?" Kei continued as he tossed a pack to Akemi who caught it easily from the couch. "and why do you always choose to drink from a wineglass?"

Kei knew he had been forbidden to ask about Anna's past but somehow his irritation didn't stop him.

Neither did it stop Akemi from remarking, "And you always eat with a knife and fork, even if it's just toast and eggs. You sense of etiquette is even better than mine,"

This was true as one might expect that a girl like Akemi who came from such a rich background would be the one who had such good table manners. However, Akemi only used proper etiquette when she felt it necessary and preferred to use her hands and she preferred eating like a pig-behind closed doors though.

Anna's friends paused when they realized that they were unintentionally digging into her personal life.

However, Anna didn't seem to mind answering, "Izumo brought me up like that,"

"That's Kusanagi-sensei, right?" Akemi questioned as her friend poured some of the juice into another glass and walked over to the couch where the pizza lay on the blond's lap.

Anna sat beside her and handed her a glass of wine. Akemi lay the pizza box and the juice box Kei had given to her on the table in front of her before accepting the glass while Kei came and sat between the two.

With an utterly adorable smile, he told the girls, "You can lay your heads on my shoulders if you get tired,"

His offer went ignored as the girls immediately started their wine and went for the pizza.

Kei sighed in disappointment and unlike the other two, he didn't mind just stabbing the straw into the 'juice pack' that was filled with wine.

The movie started.

Akemi and Kei had become engrossed with it.

However, Anna hadn't.

She ate two slices of pizza and without realizing it, had started drinking more wine that she had intended to.

That was because her thoughts went back to Mikoto and her clansmen. She kept thinking about how the distance between her and them was just growing wider.

She played with the new silver ring on her finger and she thought about Mikoto. She didn't really understand why he even gave her a ring. She could understand the earrings because they thought that she might like a memento of her deceased comrade and as a girl, a pair of earrings worked better than just one so it made sense that Izumo would give her one as well.

Maybe Mikoto felt that it was a gift that she would like, but then she would have been pleased with anything he had given to her.

_"Rikio, I made a cake today. Would you like a slice?" Anna questioned her chubby friend. _

_Kamamoto smiled. "I'd love a piece, Anna,"_

_The little eleven year old cut a slice of chocolate cake for her friend. Tatara had helped her to make it. He enjoyed it for he wolfed it down, not caring that chocolate frosting and cake crumbs were smeared all over his face. _

Anna ignored her wine glass now as she reached the third package of wine. Her mind was woozy and the wine glass seemed so cumbersome now. She stabbed the straw into it and began drinking the wine at a much quicker pace than she should have as she remembered something else.

_"Izumo, is Rikio coming today?" Anna questioned as she removed the chocolate cake out of the oven._

_Izumo opened the refrigerator. "I don't think so, Anna. He said he's moving back to his parents' home today so he may not have time,"_

_Anna didn't display any outward reaction and she carefully concealed her pain from Izumo as she began to quietly frost the cake. She had baked this cake today especially because Kamamoto had promised her the last time she had been here that he would eat anything she made for him when she came back from Seneca because he claimed to miss eating and cooking with her._

Anna finished that box of wine and placed it beside the half empty pizza box. She picked up Akemi's wine box which she seemed to have forgotten about and began drinking that as well.

_"Kosuke, what happened to all the kittens?" Anna asked when she saw the empty cardboard box on the floor. _

_"Oh, I took them home. Tomorrow someone is coming over to my house to adopt them,"_

_Anna blinked at him. Normally he would wait until she saw them before he took them away because he knew how much she liked to play with the animals he brought in. _

_Fujishima turned to Izumo. "Eric called. He said he won't be able to come in today at all today. There's some issues with work,"_

Anna finished off that pack of wine as well.

_"Mikoto, will you go outside with me today?" Anna questioned from the doorway of his bedroom. _

_Anna knew he was awake for she could see a slight change in his red at the sound of her voice. _

_However, he ignored her and went back to sleeping on like a large, lazy lion._

* * *

As the night drew on, Anna found that she had consumed five packs of that wine.

Misery didn't really seem to care about taste when it came to drowning one's sorrows. She was so drunk it seemed that she was hallucinating for she saw her handsome friend, looking the same as she always remembered him.

His straw colored hair and beautiful smile was the same as ever. She was a little girl and she was wearing on the same outfit she used to wear on with the red and black ruffled material. She even had on her little lopsided hat on her head for she could feel the familiarity of its dark ribbon tied under her chin.

They were in a dark room. She didn't really know where she was and she didn't really care.

All she knew was that standing before her was her precious friend.

She reached her arms out to him and he automatically took her in them and held her in his lap.

"Tatara," she whispered.

Tatara smiled a little uncomfortably as his arms went around her. "Ah, Anna. You've had quite a bit to drink, haven't you?"

"Is Tatara mad?" she questioned.

He gave a slight frown, then smiled kindly and patted her head. "Of course not. I can never really be mad at you, Anna."

Anna leaned her head against his shoulder trustingly. "Tatara, I miss you. Why did you have to go?" she was asking. "If you didn't have to go, everything would have been so different."

"Different?" he queried.

Anna nodded, her cheek brushing that white shirt of his that she was accustomed to him wearing around the bar with its rolled up sleeves.

"You wouldn't have let them keep me away for so long, Tatara. You would have told them to let me come home,"

Her voice was breaking even as she tried to hide up her emotions.

"What do you mean, Anna? Mikoto-san and Kusanagi-san deliberately sent you away?"

Anna lifted her head from his shoulder and blinked her wide eyes up at him. "Why are you calling them so formally, Tatara? You always call Mikoto 'King' and Izumo, 'Izumo',"

Tatara smiled apologetically at her. "Ah, of course, of course. '_King_' and '_Izumo_'. I'm a bit silly sometimes, aren't I?"

Anna replaced her head against the one who always urged her to confide in him. Anna nodded in agreement. "Yes, but we miss your silliness. Tatara, if you were here, you wouldn't have let Mikoto send me away. He said it was for my safety but you would have told him I was safer at Homra, right?"

"Well...I..."

"But Tatara wouldn't know, would he?" Anna suddenly said. "Mikoto sent me to school here a few months after you died because some men were coming after strains and they wanted me. Tatara, that man is in prison right now and he might get executed. I can come home now, it's safe because my health is better but Mikoto keeps insisting that I stay,"

Tatara remained silent for a moment.

Then he began to gently stroke her hair. He smiled softly at her. "But what about your friends Anna? Aren't they nice people? You would miss them, won't you?"

"I would. I would miss them a lot, Tatara but I thought Homra was my family. After my parents died because Mizuchi had them killed so that he could continue to experiment with my power and after my aunt left me, you and the others were all I had because you rescued me but then you left too. Mikoto and the rest of clansmen don't seem to care that I'm gone so often. I don't know if they still care about me and if they're just forgetting me,"

Tatara hugged her as she started to tremble for it was the only outward reaction she was willing to give about her emotional state. He placed his chin on top of his head. "Anna, Anna, won't you have more faith in the bonds of your family?"

"They left me. They forgot me. Just like Honami," Anna whispered heartbreakingly.

"Honami?"

Anna removed her head from his shoulder again. "My aunt, Tatara. Did you forget?"

He laughed uncomfortably. "My mind's a bit rusty,"

Anna settled herself against him again. It was so wonderful to be surrounded by Tatara's warmth and scent once more. She felt so safe here, so comforted and she did not want to leave.

"Don't you remember? Remember the times when I now came in and I didn't eat a lot? It was because of everyone in Homra that I started to eat a lot more,"

They were enshrouded in a dark room, but suddenly, as if looking at a huge screen television, images started to draw up. Like dust, images swirled up and there was a tiny, skinny girl sitting at the counter in a classy looking bar.

"_Anna, you're so skinny! I can feel your ribs!" a tall slender man with blondish hair was telling her. Tatara had just come in and he was wearing on a dark blue jacket over his shirt. His hand was poking at Anna's midsection. _

_She did not show any reaction to his movements. She merely blinked up at him with wide gray eyes._

_Izumo had just given Anna a piece of grilled fish and some seasoned rice to eat for lunch. It was not a large portion, but Anna had only eaten a tiny bit of fish and some of the rice. Izumo had a frustrated look on his face because it bothered him that the child might wither away and die of starvation if she continued eating like that._

_He didn't really understand children so he couldn't figure out how to get Anna to eat more although he had tried different types of food with her. So far, all he could conclude was that she was not really a fan of raw food and that she liked omurice and onigiri. Even so, she hadn't eaten much of what was given to her. _

"_Anna, come now-I'm sure you can do much better that," Tatara was urging her gently as he picked up her spoon and scooped up a bit. He held it to her lips and she obediently opened her mouth and consumed the rice. _

_A tall, strong looking red haired man whose presence was enough to fill the entire building, entered. He sat down to Anna's other side and glanced at the pair. _

"_Still not eating" Mikoto remarked. _

"_Getting there, King," Tatara responded as he tried to feed Anna again, but she shook her head._

_Tatara gave her a very sad look then. "Anna...don't you want to eat? Even...for **me**?"_

_Anna seemed to stiffen at the look in his eyes. Then, she opened her mouth again and ate the rice. _

_Tatara used his free hand to pat her head. "Now look at the King. See how strong he is? He's able to protect everyone because he's so powerful...but if he didn't eat at all...he wouldn't be strong, would he?"_

_Anna glanced at Mikoto, who was given a huge serving of rice and fish which he proceeded to eat without complaint. _

_She nodded at Tatara's question. _

"_See, so you should eat too," Tatara coaxed. _

_She made soft noise of assertion and he handed her the spoon. She promptly started to eat as well while glancing from time to time at Mikoto watching how he effortlessly ate consumed his meal._

* * *

"Remember how you and Izumo thought that it was a good thing whenever I ate with Mikoto? Because I would eat much more when I was with him. You always thought that that was the only good example he really set for me,"

Tatara chuckled as the image dissolved. "I'm sure the King had other admirable traits,"

Anna nodded, "Yes, he does. He's strong, he's amazing and he's beautiful,"

Then she switched the topic to being about someone else, "Yata used to buy me pudding. Lots and lots of pudding. And Rikio used to bring me home all sorts of desserts,"

Once more images came up, showing what Anna's memories of her clansmen were.

_Anna had just barely managed to finish the red chili baked chicken Izumo had made for her lunch. He had learned that she liked foods that were red for she could see them and had tried different ways to brighten up her food whether it be by adding red pepper flakes to rice or some sort of coloring to the food itself. _

_She did try hard to eat and it seemed that everyone was trying to get her into the habit of eating more by always giving her things to fill her tiny stomach with. _

_Yata came into the bar and had a plastic shopping bag in his hand._

"_Yata-chan, what have you brought today?" Izumo questioned._

_Yata hurried over to Anna's side. _

_He blushed as he informed her, "You like pudding...so I brought you some as dessert,"_

"_**Some**? Yata-chan, you look like you bought out the store," Izumo told him but took the bag from him and placed one beside Anna's plate so that she would have it when she finished eating._

_Kamamoto entered next. _

"_Anna, I brought you all sorts of different snacks. I got you pocky, chocolates. I even got some ice-cream too for Kusanagi-san to put in the freezer for later,"_

"_Anna already has dessert!" Yata deliberately informed him and the chubby blonde looked a little disheartened._

_Anna, pitying him because he had looked excited about getting her to eat something, questioned, "What kind of pocky?"_

"_Strawberry and chocolate. But you can eat it whenever you like,"_

_Anna glanced over her food. Mikoto ate a lot so she could as well. "I will eat some of the pocky too,"_

_Her words startled her clansmen but she managed to eat everything given to her. _

"_Oi, why are you moving so slowly?" Mikoto asked her an hour later after he had come down. Normally she would run across to sit with him, but she was now moving rather slowly to take a seat beside him on the couch. _

"_Anna's been well-fed today, Mikoto," Izumo answered because he knew Anna wouldn't admit that was laden with food to the point of where it weighed her down._

_Mikoto glanced at her and smirked a little behind his cigarette. "You really do look a little pudgy around the middle,"_

_Anna's mouth contorted into a tiny frown. She didn't think she liked being called 'pudgy' by her King._

* * *

"And then you and Izumo started to teach me how to cook and the both of us would grow things together because you both believed that if contributed to helping make some of the things, I would eat more of it,"

"And we were right," Tatara said. A distant part of Anna's mind was trying to figure out if that was a question or a statement.

"Yes. I learned lots of things from you and Izumo and because everyone always gave me things to eat I started to eat more and more," but then on a more solemn note, "I don't eat so well anymore, Tatara."

"The King probably has to try to get new ways of getting you to eat now that I'm not there," Tatara remarked.

She leaned back and looked up at him. With dead serious eyes, she stated, "'Get me to eat?' He _makes_ me,"

"He _makes_ you?" Tatara repeated.

Anna nodded. "He threatens me and blackmails me in all sorts of different ways, Tatara. And he still uses Lion-O,"

"Lion-O?"

"A toy he bought me a few years ago,"

"Ah, is that so?"

Anna nodded.

"_Eat or he becomes a pile of ash," Mikoto warned Anna. _

_They were sitting in the kitchen, behind the counter and Lion-O was held in one hand as Izumo placed a bowl of homemade ramen before Anna. _

_Anna, about fourteen in this memory, looked warily at her plushie being held hostage, and then at her food. She picked up her chopsticks and began to quietly consume her food. Mikoto observed with quiet golden eyes until she ate everything, down to the last drop in the bowl before returning her precious plushie to her. When he handed it to her, she hugged it to her protectively and moved away quickly before he decided to kidnap her toy again. _

The images changed and she was at the counter at the bar.

_Izumo placed a bowl of lamb stew in front of her. Mikoto was already devouring his. _

_Anna slowly picked up her spoon and ate two bites before replacing it. Mikoto seemed to nearly be done with his and as long as he left, she would be alright and not have to worry about him forcing her in anyway._

_However, Mikoto was too well acquainted with her habits._

_Noting that she had replaced her spoon, he picked it up with his free hand and immediately shoved it back in her mouth, startling her. _

"_If you don't want a repeat of that, finish your food," he threatened, still holding the handle of the silver spoon._

_And she immediately did as she was told and caught hold of the spoon herself. As she continued to grudgingly eat, Mikoto patted her head kindly making her think that was his way of saying 'Good girl'. _

"But I eat a little better now compared to then, Tatara. All these jobs I do with Kei and Akemi needs me to eat properly so that I don't get that much affected by my anemia,"

"What about your friends, Anna. Do you like them?"

"Yes, I like them a lot and I wouldn't want anyone else as friends,"

"Your friend Kei resembles me," Tatara happened to comment.

"Tatara is Tatara and Kei is Kei. Kei is a little like you, but he's different from you,"

Tatara looked like he wanted to ask more, but Anna started to talk about her clansmen again. "I just want things to go back to the way it was before, Tatara. When Mikoto wasn't so far away from me, when it didn't feel like everyone was leaving me. I like it here in Seneca, but Homra is my home and I've spent more time in Seneca this year than I did in Homra...because Homra is only Homra when everyone is there and everyone feels so close to me...but it isn't like that anymore. Even Mikoto has grown cold,"

"Anna, Mikoto...er I mean King, is not a bad person. He probably has a lot on his mind,"

Anna seemed to ignore his words. "We used to understand each other so well, Tatara. He understood my feelings and I understood his. It was almost like we were in sync with each other. Tatara, you were the heart of Homra and after you died, we didn't have a heart anymore. Mikoto and I somehow formed our own heart by becoming closer and relying on each other for what you couldn't give us anymore. Sometimes I think that the rest of the clan felt it too because sometimes the place would be so wonderfully warm. We didn't need to talk the way you would talk to us, but we gave each other affection when we knew we didn't need any words...but then I got older. Tatara, does being a grown up mean that no one likes you anymore?"

Tatara was startled at the face of misery Anna showed him and he gave her a very sad look. He held her tighter in his slender arms and began to gently rock her.

"Anna, I believe being a grown up means learning to see those who older than you as adults too, and adults with flaws as well. Don't you think?"

Anna nodded. "Maybe it's just me then, Tatara,"

Around them, hundreds of images started to come up, all of which were Anna's memories.

"_I'll make you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Anna!" Tatara exclaimed in one. In another, "This is the story of Sleeping Beauty!"_

"_King! I'm taking Anna out today! Why don't you come along too?"_

And then images of the fierce Red King showed up, but they were sweet, delicate memories that one wouldn't normally expect to such a fierce looking man as Mikoto Suoh to display such gentle behavior in.

_Mikoto's large body was on the couch while the small girl was cuddled up on his chest. Her chin was under his head she snuggled deeper against him. Her movements caused him to stir slightly but his only reaction was to move his head until his nose pressed into her temple and give it a little affectionate nuzzle. Anna responded with a soft sigh and returned to sleeping peacefully. _

Then the scenery changed and Mikoto was there again, only at a fourteen year old state.

He was with Anna in a room and he was lying down on the couch with her in his arms. Both were wearing the uniforms of Seneca Middle School.

Then they were kissing in another image and finally, they were standing in a forest under the moonlight, kissing again.

"I thought that when I got older, we could go back to that. We could figure it out and Mikoto would say that he loved me," Anna was telling Tatara. "But the distance between us just gets wider and wider. I suppose it doesn't help that when he returned to his normal age he forgot all these memories."

One last memory came up as the other images dissolved.

"_Anna, I haven't seen you in about two weeks. I'm sorry about that, but I've been away on vacation with Emi," Yata told her. He looked around the bar and saw that Izumo was cleaning a glass with a vexed expression on his face. _

"_What's up with him?" Yata questioned. _

"_He's upset," Anna responded. _

"_What for?"_

"_Because I cut my hair," she replied._

_Yata blinked at her. "But it looks the same,"_

"_It's not the same!" Izumo snapped from behind the counter. _

_Yata laughed uncomfortably. "Well, Kusanagi-san has always been fanatical about your hair. Oh, you're going back to Seneca already?"_

_He nodded to the duffel bag on her shoulder. _

_Anna nodded. "I see. I forgot that you're a working girl now and-oh damn what's time?! I have to go! Bye, Anna!"_

_And he hurried away._

_He hadn't seen her in six weeks due to her spending a month working for that trial period in Seneca, and then there was the two weeks he had missed when she came back because he was away with Emi._

"_Anna, how are you?!" came Kamamoto's voice as he entered the bar. _

_However, a slim hand caught his beefy arm. "Oh no you don't, Ricchan! Your parents told you to come home for dinner today!" the voice of his childhood friend, Ayumi exclaimed and as quickly as he had entered the bar, just as quickly he had been dragged out._

_Anna remained silent._

"_Izumo, when will Mikoto come back?" Anna asked._

_Izumo, still annoyed with her for cutting her hair, replied in a rather curt manner, "I don't know,"_

_She nodded then. "I see. Goodbye then, Izumo,"_

_And she walked out of the empty bar. _

_Since she had come home, over the last two weeks, no one had really come around. Chitose was busy with his new wife, Eric had found a job in Tokyo and wouldn't be transferred to Shizume City until September, Kamamoto's parents were often upset that he didn't spend a lot of time with them so they had Ayumi patrol after him to drag him home when necessary._

_Yata was busy with Emi and his skateboarding, Izumo was angry with her...and Mikoto...well he was just distant. He was often absent during the day and when he came home, it was late at night and he spent most of the day sleeping._

* * *

"Things just got worse. They wouldn't take me with them when they went out anymore. It's like I have no more use for them," Anna told Kei as he picked her up in his arms with one arm under her knees and the other under her back. Anna, for such a strong fighter, was surprisingly light. Wide, watery gray eyes looked up at him. "I don't know what I am to them anymore."

Kei Junichi carried his friend to her room and listened as she spoke. As he entered the darkened bedroom, he moved to place Anna onto the bed.

He paused when Anna spoke one last time and was surprised to see a tear leaking down her face, barely visible in the dark on that porcelain skin. She smiled, so sorrowfully that it broke his heart. She lifted her hand and placed it on his cheek.

"Tatara, even though I know it's not really you and that this is probably a dream...I'm glad I was able to see you again because you are the only person who could ever understand..." her voice trailed off as her eyes closed. Sleep had overtaken her.

Kei lay her on the bed, and wiped away the tear from her soft, bruised cheek with his thumb before he covered her with the blanket.

He had had no idea that these were things in Anna's life that she was hiding. He hadn't known that her past had been so scarred by the death of her parents and the abandonment of her aunt.

He had seen for himself who exactly Tatara was.

A good man.

A kind man.

A man who loved Anna very, very much.

Kei didn't understand what exactly Anna's powers were but somehow it had allowed for him to see what her memories were and what was in her mind. Alcohol had loosened her tongue and had allowed him some real insight into her life and what she hid behind those large gray eyes.

Pain, unhappiness and suffering.

This man, Tatara, was someone whose love for Anna couldn't be doubted. Kei could see, simply from the way he acted that he cared for Anna when she was a child very deeply.

Even the other clansmen had displayed a lot of concern for her when she was younger and Kei didn't understand why they were suddenly becoming so inconsiderate of her feelings.

He would have expected that they of all people would know that Anna only looked like a doll, but that there was so much behind that mannequin-mask she wore.

Both Kei and Akemi had noticed for a long time now that Anna wasn't exactly the happiest of people. They had to be cautious about questioning her because they had been warned off twice by Natsume Yuki to not pry into her life. Kei also remembered Yuki Natsume once telling them about not using Anna for her powers. When Anna mentioned something about some guy named 'Mizuchi' killing her parents so that he could continue to experiment on her, it made him wonder if he and Akemi were using Anna as well. Anna never made a fuss and she never complain. In fact, she sometimes insisted on certain things but Kei started to think that maybe he and Akemi should do more work in the this little side business they were running.

He didn't want to be anything like the man who did something so horrible to Anna.

And now Kei understood a little more about Anna.

And he decided that if her clansmen weren't going to be there for her, he and Akemi were.

* * *

Anna groaned as she woke up with a splitting headache to the sound of her PDA ringing. She was lying flat on her stomach, sprawled off on her bed.

She reached around until she found her PDA.

Grasping hold of it, pressed a button and turned her head, not really bothering to check who had called.

"Good afternoon, Anna...hey are you sick?" Izumo's voice spoke through the phone.

Anna was startled and she opened her bleary eyes more. She sat up and pushed some of the hair from her eyes.

Apparently she had no idea that her eyes were rather squinted and she had dark circles under them.

"No, I just worked a lot yesterday," she fibbed. She couldn't remember much about last night although she had some vague recollections where she was speaking to Tatara.

Izumo, ever elegant in his properly combed hair, purple glasses and stylish clothing, frowned at her on the screen of her PDA.

"You should cut down your work hours then,"

Anna merely looked at him.

He sighed. "Do you know what today is?"

Anna tilted her head to the side. She honestly couldn't recall.

"Chitose's baby was supposed to come tomorrow, but like you said, the baby came day earlier than predicted. Maria went into labour a few minutes ago,"

Anna's eyes widened. "She did? I'll come back right away then,"

"Won't your boss mind?" Izumo asked her.

"No, it will be fine," Because she didn't have work at the maid cafe today anyway.

"Alright, well when you get home you can wait around for Mikoto. He went out with Fujishima and Kamamoto. They should return around the time you do so you can come to the hospital with them,"

"Okay,"

She hung up and as soon as she did, she dashed out of her bedroom and found the bathroom where she proceeded to throw up into the toilet bowl.

* * *

"I'll take you to Shizume City if you want," Kei told Anna.

She shook her head. "No, I'll use the bike myself,"

Kei frowned. He had taught Anna how to ride a motorcycle over the last year. He was of legal age to ride an ordinary motorcycle in Japan, and now he was going after his license to drive a car but that didn't mean that he was keen on letting Anna ride through the mountains and all the way into the city on the bike.

Anna had yet to get her motorcycle license as she had only just turned sixteen. That was another reason why he was uncomfortable with her entering into the city where there would be more cops on the lookout for wild teenagers than in Seneca where it was more peaceful.

"You've been throwing up this morning as well, Anna. You really outdid yourself drinking," Kei added as he ate some of his cereal.

He had taken Akemi to bed first when she had dozed off and when he had returned to handle Anna, that was when she had mistaken him for her deceased 'brother' (who now understood was actually her clansman) and had reached out to him.

He couldn't turn her away and this was the first time Anna had sought him out for any sort of comfort even if it was that she had mistaken his identity.

He had held her on his lap and comforted her like a child, then he had taken her to bed.

He was in no condition to go home himself so he had borrowed a blanket from the girls' closet and had used it to sleep with on the couch along with a pillow he had 'borrowed' from Akemi.

Akemi was softly moaning with her head in her hands as she sat behind the kitchen's counter.

"Kei, Akemi isn't well right now. You need to stay with her," Anna argued.

"Anna, I'm not letting you use my bike when you aren't any better," he snapped. He surprised both girls with his tone because this was the first time he actually sounded mad at Anna.

Anna blinked at him.

"Anna, I'm going to agree with Kei. I'll get over this hang over. If you need to get back so urgently, let Kei take you. It will take about forty five minutes to reach the City,"

"I can call a taxi," Anna argued, not really wanting Kei to spend so long driving around.

"Then you'll have to wait another hour because it will take time to actually get a hired car around this time in Seneca,"

Anna's mouth twisted slightly, indicating her annoyance.

"Anna, you do a lot more for us than we ask you to. Let us take care of you sometimes," Kei requested quietly.

Anna blinked twice.

Then lowered her head and nodded.

He patted her head kindly. "Come on then if you're ready. You said your cousin's wife is having her baby right? We can get a teddy bear for the baby first and then we can go,"

Akemi forced herself to stand as she hugged Anna.

"Don't I get a hug too?" Kei asked, reverting back to his flirtatious self with their friend.

Akemi scowled darkly, but then, her face softened into a smile. She hugged Kei around the waist and lay her head on his shoulder.

"Come back home to me safely," she told him in a sweet voice. "I'll have cookies waiting for you, darling."

Kei seemed to be wondering if she was drunk. Akemi normally didn't talk like then to Kei. Then she grinned wickedly and added, "I'll make sure they're burnt to a crisp and become as black as that sadistic heart of yours!"

She immediately let him go, about to run off, but Kei caught her with an arm around her neck. "Lock the door when I go, sweet Akemi," he whispered softly and kissed her cheek while Akemi's expression became frightful.

Anna turned to leave after a wave to her female friend. Kei waved her off nicely as well and followed Anna out the door.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the parts with Tatara. I apologize for the lack of humor and fluff and for all he angstyness (is that a word and did I spell it right?) of this chapter. The next chapter will be cuter. I promise.**

**Now you know what was so special about this 'juice'.**

**I have previously warned against drinking, including underaged drinking. Remember, anime characters aren't real. They can get away with anything, especially in a fanfiction so please, don't drink if you are underage and drink responsibly and please, DO NOT RELY ON ALCOHOL TO ESCAPE YOUR PROBLEMS (I drank by myself before because I had issues. Afterward I realized that I had more issues because I was drinking because I had issues). **

**I know for a fact that at one point in time 'wine in a juice box' was actually being sold. I hope that's not the case anymore because children could end up accidentally purchasing them (and underaged people like Kei could get away it!)**

*****Mizuchi is the villain from K:Side Red. **

**The chapters to refer back to are:**

***An explanation for Anna's bad eating habits in this story come from Chapter 10 of the prequel. **

****Maria is from K memory of Red. She and Chitose's relationship is explained a bit in chapter 14 of the prequel to this story. They got married somewhere in Chapter 47. **

*****Mikoto bought Lion-O for Anna in Chapter 29 but is seen throughout the rest of chapters as having a love/hate relationship for it. **

******Chapters 30-46 for the whole situation with Mikoto changing to age 14 (specifically during these times he held Lion-O hostage).**

*******Specifically chapters 43 and 46 for Anna and Mikoto's kissing. Chapter 46 explains some of his memory loss. **

**I don't think I need to refer back to any chapters. Do I? If you don't understand something, let me know so I can probably let you know what chapter to look into. **

**Thank you all who favorite, follow and review this story. **

**For all who reviewed the last chapter:**

_**laxus23: I'm glad you like that part :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: I know who you are because you once PMed me using this username and explained to me that you are actually 'Little Weirdo'. I'm sorry I cut into the time you spent on your fanfic but I hope you were able to finish your chapter :)**_

_**SalamanderNatsu17: Thanks and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too :)**_

_**Mandy Lestrange : I'll try to make up for the lack of Anna/Mikoto soon. **_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: Yes, now you know how she got that bruise. Kei is about two years and a few months older than Anna and Akemi is a year and a couple of months older than her because the Akemi turned sixteen in September of the year Anna was fourteen and Anna turned fifteen in December of that same year :)**_

_**nannerlovessnickers: Oh, they WILL find out eventually. I'm actually excited about that part but I'm not sure how soon they will find out or not. It seems soon in my mind, but realistically, my idea of 'soon' doesn't materialize until a at least ten chapters later :/ Who knows, maybe this story might be different in that aspect. Good luck with finals!**_

_**Indochine: Because Kei is clueless like most guys and Akemi is a kind of tsundere as well. Well, Anna should meet up with Mikoto in the next chapter so we'll see how things go from there. And now you know what's so special about this juice :P How many more days now until your exams will be over? Good luck in them :)**_

_**Arius the Heretic: Thanks a lot, and hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)**_

_**creativeactive: I'm glad this story is making you so excited :) I'm sorry there was only a lot of really sad stuff with Anna and Mikoto's relationship (as well as with that of the Homra guys) but I hope you continue to enjoy the story :)**_

_**Ihadyprilla: It seems you've survived! Congrats :) I'm glad you like Kei and you're interested in his love life, and that you like Fushimi and Chie's :)**_

_**Bre Renee: I'm glad that you are and hope to hear from you again soon :)**_

_**magicalnana: Your welcome, and thank you for reviewing. I try to make the effort to respond to everyone :)**_

_**EmbersofImagination: It's definitely going to be a 'when' ;) I'm glad you really liked the previous chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one too. I was wondering if anyone might have made the connection with the bruise to the bounty hunting from the prequel. What you're saying about the separation of Anna and Mikoto and how they can't always be together all the time is related to Mikoto's reason for sending her to school in the first place, and why, toward the end of the last story he let her go off to work because he wanted her to learn things on her own outside of Homra and as you put it, for her character to develop. Thanks for the offer and I don't mind lengthy reviews at all :)**_

_**kuronekousako: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter despite the lack of Anna/Mikoto :)**_

_**WithLoveAsAlways: Let me start off by saying that I love your username. It's really sweet :) I actually didn't think anyone would remember Satoshi so I made sure to reference the chapter at the bottom. I'm glad you liked those parts of the chapter and that you laughed at what Chie said to Fushimi. I'm not offended by you getting irritated with it...I mean look at Anna-Mikoto is frustrating even her in this story! I will warn you though, you might get a bit more irritated with Mikoto (and you probably are with this chapter)! Thanks for the review :)**_

_**AndieVC: I used to actually update daily with probably most of the first half of the first part of this story but then the chapters got longer and school and exams got in the way. I don't know if I can ever go back to daily updates but I would try because I'm writing shorter chapters now :) I'm glad you had a better day at work and hope this chapter made you glad :)**_

_**Ambivalencia: Hello my dear and glad you're keeping up with the sequel! You'll learn more as the chapters come along ;)**_

_**Flower 117: You made it just in time! I was now gonna post up this chapter when I came across this review (it happened with another reviewer too from the last chapter). Anyway, yes, you are very correct about it being wine. I do want to write another Anna/Mikoto story but it would be in a total AU setting. Of course, I want to finish this story first because I don't want any others getting in the way of it and I would want to make Tatara alive in it as well. His death was such a waste and although I understand it's necessity plot-wise, I think he was too much of a good character to just go like that...:/ Hope you enjoy the flashbacks in this chapter with him :)**_

**Thank you again, everyone and hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Until my next update, God bless :)**


	4. The New Addition

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 4: The New Addition**_

_No one would have ever thought that Chitose would have been one of the first clansmen to get married and have a child._

_Or that he would be such a loving man to his wife. _

_Or that of all the people he would marry, it would be a dangerous assassin-type strain by the name of Maria Yubikiri. _

_The pair was currently sitting on the couch together when Anna came in. _

_Maria used to wear on lingerie with a short black skirt and only a jacket to cover her upper-body, until she got together with Chitose and decided that because he was the one who she promised her body to as he was her lover, she would wear less revealing clothing as an act of respect to him. _

_Maria was quite pretty with her long, long black hair and dark eyes. Lately she wore on knee length cotton dresses because her pregnancy rendered her other clothing useless._

_Today was a mint green dress which crinkled under her breasts and her lower stomach as she sat down. _

_No one would have ever thought that she could glow so warmly or smile so happily for she had always seemed like a woman with a sad past. Yet, here she was so joyful at the side of the man who loved her so very much._

_Chitose looked handsome with his dark brown hair and wide grin. One could tell that since getting married and learning that he was to become a father, he had matured in some ways._

_Although when he argued with the rest of his clansmen, he sounded as childish as they did despite them being a group of grown men._

"_Anna-chan, come here," Maria called to Anna._

_Anna had become well acquainted with the older woman both before and after she had married Chitose. By that time, Maria had started to liken Anna as somewhat of a younger sister. _

_The white haired girl walked over to her fellow strain. "Give me your hand," the pregnant female instructed with a lovely smile._

_Anna nodded and Maria took it and laid it gently on her stomach._

_Anna was a bit startled at what Maria did until she felt a slight movement. It made Anna think of a fluttering butterfly for the movements were so light._

_Her eyes widened as she felt it again. _

"_The baby is responding so much to you, Anna-chan. I think he likes you," Maria told her gently._

_Anna started to feel something strange...and it was related to the baby. "He'll be arriving late in December, a day earlier than the doctor predicted," she informed the fetus's mother, surprising her. _

_She could suddenly sense and she could a deep, deep warmth...and love. The type of love that only a child could have for its parents._

"_The baby...knows he's loved," Anna told Maria as the baby continued moving under her hand. Chitose who had been laughing at something Izumo told him was startled at Anna's words. He and his wife looked at each other, then at Anna._

_They blinked at her with their mouths dropped open._

_Anna shut her eyes for a moment and continued as she sensed strength coming from this baby. "He will not be a weakling in any kind of way...he will become a protector."_

"_Protector?" Chitose repeated, "of what? Or who?"_

_Anna shook her head as she removed her hand. "I don't know. I can't see beyond that."_

"_Your son might be a part of Homra too!" Yata suddenly exclaimed from Chitose's side. _

_As the soon-to-be dad turned to speak to his comrade, Anna sat down beside Maria who shifted around a little to make room for her._

_Across from her on the couch sat Mikoto who had the courtesy to not smoke around a pregnant woman. He calmly observed Anna with his lazy golden eyes as her hands formed fists on her lap, indicating that she was thinking very hard about something. _

"_Maria," she said softly. _

"_Yes, Anna?"_

_Anna glanced at her from under long eyelashes. "If the baby is a strain, would you be upset?" she questioned softly._

_Maria was surprised by the question. _

_Then, the beautiful pregnant mother leaned back and pressed her hand lovingly to her stomach. "Both you and I know that the life of a Strain is not an easy one. My parents abandoned me when they learned of my power, and I know you had a traumatic time as well. But I will love my baby with all my heart and even if the baby is a Strain, his daddy and I will protect him."_

_Anna nodded. _

_Chitose suddenly placed his arm around Maria and kissed her cheek lovingly. "Isn't it time for your afternoon nap?"_

"_I don't want to sleep," Maria replied._

"_Now now, I won't have my pretty wife exhaust herself. Let's go home. For a nap," Chitose told her, and on a stronger note he repeated, "a **nap**."_

_Maria's eyes widened slightly, then she blushed and covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she giggled softly._

"_Of course, my darling. A **nap**."_

_Chitose stood up with a smirk and held out his hand to her which she accepted. They bid everyone goodbye and left together. _

_Anna tilted her head to the side. "A nap?" _

_She didn't understand why it sounded like there was some hidden meaning behind a 'nap'. _

_Izumo shooed Mikoto off the couch, earning him an angry growl from the King who ended up going to sit beside Anna. _

_He immediately lit a cigarette. _

"_Chitose is just trying to keep his little friend happy, Anna," Izumo told her with a smile. _

"_Little friend?"_

"_Kusanagi-san, you're just confusing her more," Yata told him with a bit of a pompous air around him as he seemed to know **exactly** what Chitose had meant. _

"_Ah, the Chihuahua has become more obnoxious now that he has a girlfriend," Eric commented from the bar where he was eating a large plate of noodles._

"_F*** you!" Yata snarled but Eric continued to eat in a rather nonchalant manner. _

"_Anna isn't so little anymore, Kusanagi-san-we don't need to hide everything from her. Anna, they're going to have sex," Shohei informed her in a very bland manner. _

_Yata and Bando gasped in horror. "You don't talk like that to Anna!" Bando exclaimed. _

"_Yeah! We can't say things like that to her!"_

"_At least say it in a nicer way!"_

_Shohei came nearer to Anna and placed a hand on top of her head. "They're gonna **make love**, Anna," which led to another round of protests from Yata and Bando. _

_Anna remarked with a straight face as she turned to Mikoto. "I thought that having sex is supposed to hurt."_

_Mikoto accidentally inhaled too much smoke at her words and ended up coughing. _

_He deliberately pinched her cheek harder than usual, causing her to whimper. "Don't be cheeky, you brat," he snapped and let her go._

_Anna pressed a hand to her hurting cheek and narrowed her eyes slightly at him, showing that she was **not** pleased by how hard he pinched her. She stood up from the couch and walked away with her hand still touching her face._

_Mikoto's eyes followed after her while everyone else engaged in a grand debate about what words to use to improvise for 'sex' and much of the language had started to become crude. Mikoto sighed wearily. Sometimes he just couldn't fathom the girl anymore. _

_Anna was partially annoyed with Mikoto, but there was something else niggling at the back of her mind that made her want to be by herself and think for a while...something that she knew she had forgotten, a memory she had locked away that she knew she didn't want to remember._

* * *

The teddy bear was perfect for it reminded her of Chitose. It was very furry and soft with a color reminiscent of Chitose's hair. It even wore on a little plaid shirt similar to the one Chitose normally wore.

"You're getting that for the baby?" Kei asked Anna. She nodded.

He had his motorcycle helmet under his arm as he stood beside her.

"Hey Anna?"

She looked at her friend.

Kei seemed a bit nervous. "Er...what kind of guy was your brother...you know the one who everyone mistakes me for?" _The dead one, _he silently added.

Anna blinked at him and suddenly she her memories of crying on Tatara about all her woes with the clan leaked into her mind.

"It was you," Anna stated with slightly widened eyes.

Kei didn't need to ask what she was talking about. He had a guilty expression on. "Yeah, it was me. I didn't have the heart to push you away, Anna. And I'm your friend...we can't ask about your past and you don't talk about it. You needed someone and even if you're a bit angry with me for not telling you what had happened, I'm still glad you relied on me even if you thought I was someone else,"

Anna blinked her wide gray eyes at him before she returned her attention to the toy.

"I'm not mad, Kei."

"You aren't?"

She shook her head. "Thank you," she told him instead, surprising him.

Kei gave a little smile and patted her head. "You can always rely on Akemi and myself, Anna and even if you feel you can't..." Kei's expression became a bit troubled after this, "you can always pray."

Anna started to walk to the cashier with the teddy bear in his hands. "I have never thought of Kei as spiritual,"

He shrugged. "I've never really acknowledged the existence of a God, but I know that people who rely on Him do believe that He has a way of handling things. And things always have a working out somehow or the other."

Anna nodded as she remembered a few familiar words: _'Don't worry, it'll all work out somehow!'_

Unfortunately, the person who said that was dead.

"He was the one who taught me to smile again," Anna responded to Kei's earlier question after a long, hesitant pause.

"Huh?"

She looked him straight in the eye after purchasing the toy. "Tatara," she clarified.

Kei nodded, indicating that he understood. "But you don't really smile, Anna."

"When he died, I felt like I didn't really need to anymore."

Not for a while, not until she and Mikoto grew closer and closer as time passed was she able to manage out tiny smiles once more.

But that wasn't the case lately.

"_Anna, you have pretty lips-just like a fairy's! You need to turn that straight line into a big, huge smile!" Tatara declared as he stooped in front of her. He had his index fingers touching his face as he pushed the corners of his mouth upward to make a perfect example of what he was trying to get her to do. _

_The wide eyed child tilted her head slightly and blinked. "Come now, Anna-smile! Smile, just for me!"_

_And she did. She somehow managed to lift up the corners of her mouth at Tatara's coaxing. It felt strange to smile like that, but she was quite sure that it was something she would someday get a bit more accustomed to doing._

* * *

Since the motorcycle could move so swiftly and maneuver through traffic easily, Kei was able to reach Shizume City within a half an hour and was able to find Homra in ten minutes.

As they had driven through the mountains and eventually the city, Anna had pondered upon a lot of things about herself and her clansmen.

She tried to understand herself and her feelings about her clansmen.

The first question she asked herself was what it was exactly that she wanted from them?

The answer to that was certainly to _not_ be babied. She did not expect Kamamoto to comb her hair and she didn't need for Izumo to come in everyday to prepare meals for her.

She could even do her own laundry.

What Anna wanted was to simply spend time with them.

That was all.

She wanted to go out with them when they went bounty hunting, she wanted to go to the Game Centre with Yata and she also wanted to watch TV with him, she wanted to find strays with Fujishima and beg Izumo to take them in until they found a home for them and she wanted to cook and eat with Kamamoto.

When she had first started noticing the lack of time she spent with them, she never commented on it and to this day she did not.

This was because her mind operated in such a way where she would not demand because if she demanded, she would find herself being rather selfish and she did not want to be selfish toward the people who had given her so much.

Anna came to the conclusion that her expectations were too high. If there was one thing she had been taught in childhood, it had been to not have expectations of any human because they all let her down in some way or the other.

Her parents didn't deliberately do it, but they had been taken away from her. Her aunt had forgotten about her. Tatara who had made her trust him so much left her as well despite her warning to him of his impending doom.

Even Mikoto had almost died and left her when she was eleven but by a miracle he was still alive to this day.

However, her clansmen and Mikoto kept silently urging her to keep on trusting them, to not have low expectations of them that she unknowingly had come to always think that nothing would change and that they would always look after her and care for her as they always had.

Anna realized that maybe she needed to attach something to her thoughts that she hadn't before; understanding.

Understanding that things changed, people changed and circumstances changed. Her clansmen were off doing their own thing and even she was because she spent so much time working in Seneca.

On the other hand, she didn't really expect that things would come to be like this where a huge gap had started to exist between her and her clansmen. After all, Homra had always been about the bonds her clansmen had with each other.

She didn't understand what happened to these 'bonds' since everyone seemed so distant.

Or maybe it's just me, Anna decided for she could sense the distance only between herself and her comrades while everyone else seemed to remain close to each other.

Her heart was hurting over this for it was so painful, but she decided that maybe she was being too childish. She needed to be more _understanding_.

She was an _adult_ now and she needed to act like one because no one was certainly treating her like a child.

Even if they weren't even treating her like a comrade.

* * *

"I passed by this bar many times with my brother when we came here in the past. It's a sort of icon but we had never really thought to come here. Probably because we were underaged at the time," Kei said when they came to a stop in front of the bar.

Anna gave a slight nod. "If you come back here, let me know."

"I will," Kei promised.

Anna slid off from the bike and Kei followed. Anna was wearing on thick black trousers to guard against the cold. A black jacket matched while she kept on a red scarf tucked around her neck.

She removed her red helmet and her alabaster hair fell in a long ponytail over one shoulder. She handed the protective gear to Kei who proceeded to lift the seat and tuck it inside there.

Still wearing his own black one, he reached out and hugged her, surprising her.

Anna didn't pull away and if anything, the leanness of his body reminded her very much of Tatara's and she returned his hug.

When he released her, he smiled. "Call us, alright? Akemi and I are your friends too."

Anna nodded and he waved before getting on his bike and peeling off.

She watched him go and as soon as he did she realized that she still had a headache from her hangover.

Thankfully, Izumo had given her a set of keys to the bar in case it just so happened that she returned home unexpectedly and at a time when Mikoto spent sleeping and Izumo himself wasn't around (because Mikoto slept so deeply sometimes that he wouldn't hear a knock on the door from all the way up in his room).

* * *

Empty.

The bar was totally and utterly empty of human presence.

Not that Anna minded that right now for she needed a cure for this hangover. It had eased up when she had left Seneca but upon entry into Homra, her head had started to hurt again.

Izumo had several cures. The most effective one involved blending together some really awful stuff that tasted so nasty that it made the person drinking it wonder if it was the disgusting taste of that gunk that made them sober up and not the drink itself.

Anna's head was pounding so loudly that she couldn't bear to get together all of that stuff.

The other option she had was tea and thankfully, when she searched around in the cabinet of the kitchen, she found that they package of this special tea.

It was really more meant to sober up the person drinking it, but it had also proven to be effective for hang overs too. Anna herself had given it to Reisi and Izumo once who had decided to drink tea and whisky together when Seri Awashima had ditched the pair to go out with Ryosuke Natsume.

Anna didn't really know what was going on with Seri right now.

All she could assume was that Seri either had a relationship with her boss right now, because she was still a part of Scepter 4, or she had a relationship with Izumo but kept it a tight secret from everyone.

Anna supposed if there was really something going on between the Vice Captain of the Blue Clan and the Red King's second in command, then someday they would know when both were willing to tell everyone.

Anna's mind drifted away from that topic as she proceeded to brew the tea.

There was one thing she knew about this tea that she had never tasted, and that was that it was really foul. Even Izumo and Munakata Reisi had said so themselves. However, she was quite sure that it had to be the lesser of two evils compared to the weird gunk Izumo blended together and claimed to be his own 'homemade hangover cure'.

After brewing it, she strained the tea into a cup and tossed out the excess leaves and whatever other debris made up the drink. She didn't want Izumo demanding answers for why, of all the teas she decided to drink, it would be _that_ one.

She rinsed the items she had used to make the tea and proceeded to drink it.

She was quite sure that Mikoto, Kamamoto and Fujishima would be back soon.

Really, the tea did taste nasty.

Well, at least it was better than dry wine, she thought and continued to drink it.

She managed to down three quarters of the cup when she found that her headache had receded. Now it was just her stomach for to her shock, it had let out a loud growl.

Anna dumped the contents of the tea into the sink and opened the refrigerator to see if she found anything.

There was nothing but alcohol in there. Anna sighed. She wasn't surprised. The morning gang must have come in and cleared out the remaining ingredients to use to make something to eat and because Maria went into labor, some of the clansmen must have gone to give Chitose some support while Mikoto and a few others went off bounty hunting.

That meant that no one had had the time to actually buy anything to replenish their supplies of food.

Of all the times she decided to have an appetite, it just had to be today of all days, she thought woefully.

However, when she opened the freezer, she found a package of frozen pancakes that could be microwaved.

She wasn't a big fan of microwavable food but she didn't really have a choice because her stomach sounded like an angry monster right now.

She quickly set a stack of four on a plate and put it to heat up while she looked around to see if they had any syrup. While searching around, she also found a small package of strawberries in the refrigerator.

Thankfully, there was a bottle of syrup which she sighed in relief upon finding.

* * *

It had called to him.

_Beckoned_ him.

He couldn't say no to those big red eyes.

That fuzzy little fluff-ball of white fur in all its glorious furriness just demanded of his hands to reach out endorse in the softness of its fuzzy fuzziness.

"You better not think about bringing that in," Izumo warned Fujishima who held the little rabbit between his large hands.

The often stoic looking young man was the stereotypical silent, tough looking guy who had a soft spot for animals.

Fujishima hugged the little red eyed creature close as he gazed at the bartender with a solemn expression on. "But it's all alone, Kusanagi-san. Its partner died after their owners abandoned them when they got older. I've heard that if a rabbit becomes lonely, it feels unloved and becomes depressed until it eventually dies."

"How do you know that the owners abandoned it?" Izumo demanded. After all, they had only just passed this alleyway where this little beast had been shivering inside a box.

"Because I live nearby and I used to pass their house everyday where I would see a pair of rabbits. Then last week they disappeared and someone told me yesterday that they saw a dead black bunny somewhere in this area."

Izumo frowned as he pulled out a cigarette. Fujishima had probably cried when he heard about the poor rabbit. "That doesn't necessarily mean that this is the other one from the pair."

Fujishima continued as his eyes grew wider as they gazed upon Homra's second in command, "But it's all alone. It _needs_ someone."

Izumo glanced over at the King who was walking to his side dressed in blue jeans, a white shirt and his favorite black jacket with the fur lined hood.

"The problem doesn't lie with the rabbit," Izumo informed the animal-lover.

Fujishima had a distinct recollection of Mikoto wanting to eat a certain horse. Upon hearing Izumo's words, Mikoto responded with a sigh as he accepted a cigarette held out to him by Izumo, "I don't care for rabbit meat."

Fujishima looked relieved until Kamamoto happened to come near to him with his gaze upon the rabbit as he drooled long puddles. Fujishima could almost see the chubby blonde lighting up a barbeque pit to roast the poor bunny on.

* * *

Izumo had suspected that Anna had come home when he found the door to the bar open.

"Kamamoto, clean the counter and stack the bottles that came in earlier today," Izumo ordered the tubby fellow in order to distract him from giving the poor rabbit hungry looks.

Truthfully, Izumo did feel sorry for the little thing. It had been cold outside, and it had been trembling. Its nose had twitched when Fujishima gently stroked its soft head and it had settled itself against the young man trustingly.

"Kusanagi-san, do we have anything to feed him?"

"No, you guys cleared out the refrigerator earlier. Maybe there's a piece of lettuce around," he replied as he headed to the kitchen to check.

Upon opening the door, he realized why he had a bit of a soft spot for the fragile bunny-because a certain white haired girl was sitting at the counter, munching away on what looked like the last bite of pancakes that had been soaked in syrup.

Very much rabbit-like, she went very still as she was chewing, as if surprised and wary of who entered. When she realized it was Izumo, she went back to eating.

"Well, I certainly hadn't expected you back so early," Izumo remarked.

Anna swallowed her pancakes and picked up her plate to take to the sink to rinse out. There was still a some strawberries in a white bowl on the counter.

"There was no traffic," Anna responded as she headed to the sink.

Anna was wearing on a pink top that had red frills. She had shrugged off her matching black jacket and red scarf and had hung them neatly on the chair she had been sitting on.

"Why is Izumo home?" she continued.

"Maria was here when her water broke so I drove her and Chitose to the hospital."

"Chitose was panicking," Anna commented as she finished washing her plate.

"Yeah. Maria wasn't though. She was very relaxed about it until Chitose started to get on her nerves and she punched him,"

Anna nodded. She wasn't surprised to hear that.

"Maria will be in labor for a couple of hours. I left my car with Chitose in case he needed it. He said he would call when she had the baby and on the way back I met up with Mikoto and the others. I'm sorry I made you hurry home like that."

Anna shook her head. "It's alright,"

"Are there anymore strawberries?"

She gave a small nod.

Izumo went to the fridge and searched until he got it.

"Kosuke brought in a new animal if you would like to see it."

* * *

Anna blinked at the bunny.

It blinked back at her as it twitched its nose. Then it pulled the piece of the strawberry from her hand and scooted to a corner of the box where it began to munch on it hungrily.

"The owners abandoned it," Fujishima explained to her as she stood up from her stooping position.

"I suppose when all things grow up, they're no longer considered cute," Anna happened to say.

Fujishima paused at her words. It wasn't so much the words that made him get taken aback-it was the way she said it-in a somewhat hard tone.

Izumo had entered the bar with some more strawberries. He had even found a piece of a carrot for the animal.

He had heard what Anna had said and he frowned.

He lifted the water bottle he held in his other hand and touched Anna's shoulder with it.

She turned around.

"Take this down to Mikoto, will you? He's working out in the basement."

Anna nodded and headed there with her own bowl of strawberries at hand.

* * *

Mikoto had stripped down to a black armless shirt with red trousers for his workout. His normally high metabolism allowed him to consume large amounts of food without gaining any weight. However, that did not mean that there weren't times when he just felt like using his muscles. Even if he was a King, it didn't mean that his joints didn't get rusty and as bounty hunter who was required to fight, and as a fighter with a preference to hand to hand combat, he was required to keep in shape from time to time.

He was doing push ups on the floor when Anna came in.

Anna watched those long, very lightly tanned skin of his of his biceps, ripple with his motions. He had hardly broken into a sweat with his movements which were so clean cut and almost perfect.

Mikoto clenched his hands into fists as he moved on to doing push ups with his knuckles.

"What are you doing down here?" he asked her softly.

Anna was almost startled at his words. She had been so entranced by how fit and masculine his body was that she had forgotten what she had come for.

She blinked twice before responding.

"Izumo sent you a bottle of water," she answered as she moved to sit on a chair a short distance away.

Mikoto grunted in response.

"Are you going to just sit there and watch?" he questioned as he continued his push ups.

Anna calmly ate a strawberry. "Am I bothering you?"

Mikoto's body was pushed upward when she asked this and he deliberately turned his head so that his lazy golden eyes observed her quietly.

Anna returned his look, however and popped another strawberry in her mouth.

Mikoto snorted. "Make yourself useful. Come here."

She did as she was told and stood up and walked over to him as he pressed downward.

"Get on."

_Her little arms were around his neck as he moved upward and downward at a constant, easy pace. _

"_Make sure you hold on tightly," Tatara said to her and she nodded. As she did so, her pale cheek brushed against Mikoto's soft hair. _

_Tatara laughed. "We don't need to get anymore weights! Anna is our new piece of exercise equipment!"_

_Mikoto just sighed wearily. He didn't mind too much the child on his back. What surprised him though was when her breathing, which had been very quiet, almost silent in his ear, suddenly evened out, as if she had fallen asleep._

_When Tatara returned a few minutes later, he found Anna sleeping on Mikoto's back as he remained flat on his stomach with his head in his arms as he took a nice long nap as well. _

Anna hadn't been a piece of 'exercise equipment' to her King in years but she did not worry that her now heavier weight would be bothersome to him.

Mikoto was quite strong.

She lay her bowl of strawberries close to one of his hands-not close enough to get in his away, but close enough for her to reach out for it.

She proceeded to straddle him on either side of his hips before lowering her soft body completely onto his hard one so that her arms went under his shoulders as she gripped him there and her own pelvis pressed intimately against his backside when she drew up her legs over his much harder ones.

_"'Ass'," Akemi corrected her friend as she pointed to the image of a handsome man's naked behind that had been perfectly drawn on the panel of the mangastrip Akemi was showing her. _

_"What?"_

_"That isn't his backside, that's his ass, Anna and it's a **sexy ass,**" Akemi told her._

_Anna blinked in confusion._

_Akemi sighed and patted her friend's shoulder sympathetically. "'Backside' just sounds too...bland. I think the word 'ass' and 'sexy' go well together on hot guy, don't you think?"_

_"But that person isn't real," Anna pointed out._

_Akemi huffed. "He's real to me, and he has a sexy ass," The blonde smirked deviously then. "I bet there's a certain someone who has a sexy ass you would like to grab onto."_

Anna had blushed deeply at her friend's suggestive words that day, and right now, she could actually understand what Akemi now meant by 'sexy ass'. After all, she was pressed against one right now.

"Ready?"

She made soft noise of assertion and Mikoto pushed upward, quite easily. He seemed to be going at it effortlessly, but his pace was slower than before.

Anna had a strawberry clasped between her fingers as she lay her cheek on Mikoto's back. Her own long hair spilled over his shoulder so that every time he pressed downward, it would form a white puddle on the floor.

His body was hot.

There was no denying that.

Except it was hotter now that he was exercising.

When she was little, this kind of heat made her feel safe and comforted.

_It was a cool morning when she climbed into his bed. She didn't like the cold so she came to him, knowing he would let her stay. She pulled back his blanket and joined him there, cuddling herself against his back which was always warm and comfy and as she became more toasty, her eyes slid shut in contentment. _

Days like that couldn't come again. Not with this type of...sexual awareness she had developed about him.

With the rippling feel of his muscles against the two mounds of her breasts that were pressed so hard against his back, and with the position her pelvis was in with his backside, this heat of his felt _different_.

Much, much _different_.

Her lower stomach started to coil with a disastrous feeling that made her breath start to come at a slower, hotter huffs.

Her grip on Mikoto's strong shoulders increased as she became all too aware of how tight her clothing was starting to feel.

Anna had never been exposed to much pornographic material, much less anything sensual save for certain mangas that Akemi had that were targeted for a much older audience. They contained romantic story lines with sexual activity attached to it.

Anna had understood what the women in those stories felt, for she was feeling it now.

The desire to be unclothed and to be touched by the hands of the man who she loved so much. She wanted Mikoto to turn around and take her in his arms, to slowly undo the buttons of her top, to strip it from her skin, to expose her to him so that she could be loved by him.

"_I bet his touch is rough, but surprisingly gentle,"_ Anna recalled her friend's words.

"_I think he's the kind of man who will dominate your body, play you like an instrument and make you his own, **totally** and **completely.**"_

Anna wished so badly that she didn't remember those things right now, not when she could feel the slide of his hot, hard body beneath hers, not when she could catch the musky scent his body gave off that made her female senses tingle...not when it was so easy for her to slip her hands around his body and run them along his hard torso where she could feel every ridge, every ripple of the muscles of his flat stomach to his well defined chest.

Anna swallowed hard and immediately pushed herself upward.

She had to get up from Mikoto before he realized what was going on and before she did something stupid like act on her desirous thoughts. She could only picture him feeling disgusted with her for thinking like this about him for she herself was not pleased by the easy way her body reacted to his.

"Anna, what-?!" Mikoto began but before he could finish his sentence, Anna fell from on top of him and flopped face first onto the ground.

Anna gave a soft moan as she tried to sit up, but suddenly Mikoto's large hands were grasping her shoulders roughly but gently as he turned her over to face him.

Anna smiled self-derisively as ironically, the pain she felt from hitting her head somehow knocked away all senses of sexual desire from her body.

"Are you alright?" Mikoto asked, obviously shocked that she was smiling.

In fact, that disturbed him.

Anna rarely smiled and if she smiled, it wasn't such a way that it seemed as though she was amused by herself.

"I'm alright," she assured him as she lost her smile when she looked up at him.

Mikoto was a man whose expression often looked bored and sleepy (oftentimes both).

Hardly anything ever fazed him.

But when something did bother him-which was not very often-he could rather serious.

Those eyes of his were narrowed slightly with his scarlet eyebrows slightly turned downward. His golden eyes were deep and probing on her as they searched her face for any bumps.

Those two strands of his hair that fell forward gently brushed his cheeks.

Anna wondered if it was alright for her to feel the urge to run her hands along his strong jaw, just to feel the smoothness of his face.

Mikoto's mouth became a deep frown as he dragged her into his lap.

One of his large hands gently caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger so that he could tilt her face upward to observe it better.

His free arm went around her waist, clasping her hard against that wall of his chest as his palm remained on her waist, spanning its petiteness.

"You have a bump," he commented as he observed the slight swelling on the side of her forehead. He let out a sigh and his expression relaxed a little before giving her an angry look. "What the hell were you thinking? If you wanted to get up, why didn't you just say so?"

"I wanted another strawberry," was her lame excuse.

Mikoto gave her an annoyed glare, but she just lifted her hand, showing him the fruit that had surprisingly survived the impact of her fall.

Innocently, she asked him, "Would you like one?"

Mikoto looked at her sternly before he clasped her wrist in his hand in order to bring hers closer to his mouth.

He took a bite out of the strawberry which was so plump and sweet that its red juice ran down Anna's fingers, looking stark red against her very pale skin.

Mikoto bit into the remainder of the fruit as his tongue began to flick away the juice from her fingers. Anna's face reddened at the touch of his hot tongue that glided smoothly, slowly...and almost sensually against her skin.

His tongue ran down her thumb and to her wrist, gently licking away the sweet juice of the strawberry.

"Mikoto-san, Anna, I need your help," came Fujishima's voice.

However, he stopped at the sight before him.

Anna, despite being older, was still a small person and here was this pale hair pretty girl sitting in the lap of a tall, powerful and dangerous man like their King. She was probably as tall as Yata now and what made her look like seventeen or eighteen was the development of her curves.

Mikoto was holding her small fair hand in own larger, masculine one while he gently kissed and sucked the girl's fingers in a rather intimate way.

Fujishima blushed. His expression didn't change but his cheeks were brilliant red with embarrassment. "Uh...I'll come back later."

"What do you want?" Mikoto asked as he released Anna's hand and turned his attention to his clansman.

"Um...well...Kamamoto-san wants to eat my rabbit."

Mikoto sighed and gently ushered Anna off from him as he stood up.

Such an insignificant matter he thought in annoyance.

He glanced at Anna and lifted a hand and pressed it under her bangs to where the tiny bump was. He leaned down and pressed his mouth there.

"Do something about it," he ordered.

Anna nodded. She knew he meant about both her bump and the bunny.

As Mikoto drew away from her and went onto lifting some weights, she felt a chill in the air for he was no longer beside him.

Because at Mikoto's side, was where it was warmest.

* * *

"This is my son. My off-spring; my seed," Chitose announced to the clansmen who entered the hospital room. Fujishima had decided to sneak the rabbit into his apartment while Kamamoto had been called away on a family emergency. Dewa and the others would come later for they would not be able to get off from work until that evening. Currently, it was Anna, Mikoto, Izumo and Yata who had come in to see Chitose, Maria and the new baby.

In Chitose's arms, Anna could not see properly yet, was what looked like a blue caterpillar with a tiny human head. She realized as she came to stand beside Mikoto, across the room from Chitose who was sitting in a chair beside his wife's bed, that that was the newborn baby, wrapped in blue swaddling.

"How come he's not crying?" Yata asked as he hurried over to Chitose's side, quite curious about the baby.

"Because he's a well behaved baby, aren't you?" he crooned at his newborn child.

The little one opened its big dark eyes and made a soft noise that in response.

"He's so beautiful," Chitose whispered with awe, warmth and love in his eyes.

"He looked like a little old man," Yata commented.

Chitose glowered at his short comrade. Yata was taken aback by his expression but Chitose turned away in a huff. "I shall not curse you in the presence of my very handsome son."

Then, he stood up and walked over to Anna and Mikoto.

Mikoto had his hands shoved into his jeans with an unlit cigarette stuck between his lips while Anna, now dressed in her red dress with long sleeves, white stockings and red shoes, stood beside her king with her small hands clasped in front of her.

She had combed out her hair so that it was loose around her. Mikoto looked rough and rugged while Anna looked sweet and prim.

"Mikoto-san, it would be an honor to have you be one of the first people to hold my son," Chitose told him.

Mikoto gave a lopsided frown. "I've never really held a newborn before."

"Neither have I! It's easy I tell you!" he insisted and immediately shoved the baby onto Mikoto who instinctively reached out to ensure that Chitose in no way dropped the boy.

"There, just cradle him like that and let his head rest there," Chitose was saying a moment later. Mikoto had somehow ended up actually holding the child.

The baby was not bald from what Anna could see for all she could actually see was his dark hair and his little arms that had come loose out of the swaddling.

The baby who seemed to be rather quiet and sleepy, suddenly opened his eyes and upon sight of Mikoto. They widened.

Mikoto blinked down at the new life he held in his hands. He didn't feel particularly comfortable holding it because he knew that with his strength, he could easily hurt the little one. The thing looked like an extraterrestrial for it was so pale, its skin so wrinkly and its eyes so huge and dark.

The baby's tiny arms began to move and it opened its mouth and made a soft little noise.

"Mikoto, the baby seems to like you," Izumo remarked.

"What do you think?" Chitose questioned Mikoto.

The King shrugged and handed him back the child. "He looks like an alien."

Chitose was not bothered in anyway by the King's brutal honesty much to Yata's dismay (for Chitose had gotten mad at him for calling the baby an 'old man')

"I think he's also waiting to meet Anna," Maria said from the bed.

Chitose agreed and after a nod of approval from Mikoto, he took the baby from the King, and carefully laid him in Anna's arms.

As her head bent to have a better look at the scrap of humanity in her arms, some of her hair fell forward and the baby gazed up at her with its wide eyes.

Then, he began to wave his arms again slowly, or as much as he could for he was just a little newborn, as if trying to reach out and touch her hair.

Her vision began to change and the room became dark and suddenly, images began to gather although they were not very clear, but they were enough to form a scene for her that seemed to pull away a curtain and reveal a tiny sliver of the future to her.

_They were shadowy figures but she could see knew the taller figure was Chitose's child. He seemed as though he was still very little and Anna couldn't decipher his age. He was looking at a woman who was sitting in a chair and in her arms was a baby. _

"_You are this little one's protector,"_

_And Anna suddenly realized that the woman who spoke, was herself._

Anna blinked, snapping out of her vision.

"Anna?" Mikoto's voice said her name quietly.

She looked up at him. She blinked a few times before her face softened. She returned her attention to the baby and to their surprise, he smiled!

He looked a lot like Chitose when he did and it was only for a very brief moment.

Mikoto seemed a but startled but somehow, even for someone as ferocious as Mikoto, and someone as expressionless as Anna, the smile of this little existence made both their hearts warm and melt and the two beamed at the bundle in Anna's arms.

"Mikoto," she whispered his name and looked up the King, smiling in a way that Mikoto had never seen her do before. Her eyes were wide and shimmering, her face was warm and softly glowing.

Mikoto blinked in surprise for she looked very...lovely when she smiled like that and it was the first time in a while Mikoto had actually seen her do so. "He's a cute alien, isn't he?"

Mikoto snorted softly before placing his hand on the baby's tiny palm which automatically clasped around his appendage. "Yes," he agreed, "he certainly is."

The atmosphere around these two became very warm, and loving and the clansmen observed with grins on their faces as Mikoto pressed a soft kiss on the top of Anna's head before gazing at the baby in her arms.

"Mikoto, you and Anna look like his parents," Izumo commented as he slipped away his PDA. He had secretly just taken a picture of the two. They gave him a confused look as Chitose stepped forward to take the baby from Anna. He smiled at her as she did so and she nodded.

"What is his name?" Anna questioned.

"You said he was going to be a protector, so we named him 'Tamotsu'," Maria answered as Chitose laid the baby in it's mother's arms.

Anna was a little touched by that and for the first time in a long time, her clansmen saw a tiny smile on her face-which was the second one she produced within five minutes.

"Hey Chitose, I've heard that the midwives in the hospital massage the woman's breasts to encourage milk production," Yata remarked.

Chitose reached out and pulled his ears hard. "Don't make something like that sound so crass."

"Ouch! Hey! I was stating a fact, you took it the wrong way!"

"I find that hard to believe coming from you!"

"You can't tell me a pervert like you wouldn't want to be present when they do it!" Yata retorted.

Chitose cheeks flushed angrily. "You're gonna die, shorty!"

Yata brushed him off, "I'm not lying!"

"Why don't you go knock up your flat chested woman and find out for yourself! Maybe by then she might grow some knockers for you to put your hands on!"

Yata gasped in shock and was about to spring at Chitose but Izumo caught him by the back of his shirt, stopping him.

"That's enough, Yata-chan. Today is a happy event for Chitose. We won't ruin it by saying rude things in the hospital room," Then, on a softer note, Izumo said to Yata, "and you wouldn't to upset Maria, would you?"

Yata glanced around to see the strain looking him with cold eyes as her son remained quietly in her arms.

Yata remembered the first time they had ever come across her, she had destroyed an entire baseball stadium.

No, he wouldn't want _her_ mad at him.

* * *

"Something on your mind, Anna?" Izumo questioned as he wiped the counter of his bar.

He had given Anna her customary orange juice which she quietly sipped from the bar. Earlier that day, when they had come home, Izumo had caught the bad scent of the tea leaves he had often used to sober up or cure hangovers for his customers and clansmen. He wondered who in the world had been drinking, but he supposed it might have been Fujishima for he might have spent the night before drining and crying about the rabbit's mate who had died.

Anna remained silent for a long moment after Izumo question. Then, slowly, carefully, she confided, "I saw Chitose's son...he was a few years older but he was protecting another baby."

"Another baby?" Izumo repeated.

Anna nodded. "I couldn't make out any faces but the woman holding the baby...was me."

Izumo paused in his cleaning and glanced over at Anna. "Was it yours?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

Izumo looked thoughtful as he resumed his cleaning. "The only children in this clan that Tamotsu could become a protector to would either be your child, or Mikoto's,"

Anna nodded. That much was true because Mikoto was the king and Anna was their princess.

"Well, I suppose we'll know someday," Izumo commented and secretly, he believed that that child Anna had seen was hers and Mikoto's.

But he wouldn't mention that quite yet.

He would also stave off the joy of that thought for now.

"When are you going back to Seneca?" Izumo asked her.

"Tomorrow," she replied, for it was already too late to get a taxi to take her back to Seneca.

Izumo frowned. "What time?"

"Midday," she answered.

"I see. Be careful then. There are rumors about a blizzard coming. Make sure you check the weather reports."

Anna nodded.

Izumo observed Anna once more. Her expression was carefully blank. "Anna, is something else wrong?"

"I'm hungry," she answered and Izumo chuckled. He was glad for today, Anna's appetite seemed to be really healthy as she had been eating all day long, much to his delight.

"Kamamoto cooked earlier, I'll bring you something."

"Thank you,"

Anna watched Izumo go. He was probably the only one in the clan who still paid a lot of mind to her, but she noticed that he was starting to treat her more and more childishly which was so unlike him. She sighed miserably to herself. Hadn't she promised herself that she would try to be more understanding?

Yes, she recalled and she decided that maybe Izumo didn't see her often so he tried to dote on her and Anna could appreciate his efforts for to her, that suggested that he actually missed her. Fujishima and Kamamoto had been a bit distant today too and Mikoto hadn't been in the same room with her for very long on this day either.

She decided that everyone just had their own things to do, that was all and maybe someday, things would get better.

However, there had been something else on her mind which she had not told Izumo about and that was separate from her issues relating to her clansmen.

There was that memory that kept niggling at her, that her mind seemed uneasy about having her remember.

* * *

_'She's just sixteen years old, leave alone, they say,'_

Mikoto glanced around at the radio Izumo had given him as a birthday gift earlier that year. He had left it on a channel that tended to play more english songs and this one sounded really damned old.

_'...If I could fly_,

_I'd pick you up,_

_I'd take into the night and show love,_

_Like you've never seen, ever seen...'_

Mikoto cursed and switched off the radio.

He recalled earlier that day when he had had Anna climb onto his back. He had been well aware of certain things.

Like how hot her breasts had felt against his back, the way her body had been so soft as it pressed against him. He had heard her breathing become shorter, and he had felt it grow hotter against his ear as well.

Hell, he had even felt a certain heat emanating from between her thighs as she had been pressed against his ass!

Oh, he had become damned aware that Anna's libido had awakened when she had been on his back.

The unfortunate thing was that his own had as well in response to his because like a lion, he could pick up the scent of a female in heat and Mikoto didn't want to admit it, but the only female who came close to making him loose his sense of control was Anna.

No doubt, she had a delicious body that that primal part of him just wanted to selfishly take for himself.

He had been tempting them both when he had eaten strawberry from her hand. It was just a little touch, just a little taste to sensually run his tongue along her fingers.

And Mikoto wanted more, much more, but he wasn't willing to give into his own desire.

Not with Anna.

He would not do anything to a young girl like her.

Even if it killed him.

Unlike the guy who was singing on the radio, he would follow through with the first line of the song: she was just sixteen years old, so he was going to leave her alone.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I felt sorry for the bunny though.**

****The song Mikoto was listening to is called 'Into the Night' by Benny Mardones. It's a really old song. I think it came out in 1980 which was 33 years ago I believe. **

****I have no idea as to whether or not the Japanese actually eat rabbit meat. I just assumed that they probably do because it is eaten in a lot of countries (although I wouldn't eat it myself as I've had them as pets before). If I am wrong, forgive my ignorance and feel free to correct me. **

****The only chapter I can think of you having to refer back to is Chapter 40 of GP when Izumo and Reisi were drinking. **

****This chapter also has some explanation for the Seri/Izumo/Reisi situation. I personally do not want to tamper with Seri's position in Scepter 4 because I think she is too important to the organization and I would like to, for this story's sake, keep it that way. I've told another reviewer this as well that if you think that she should end up with Izumo, you can imagine that she has a secret relationship with Izumo right now, or if you think she should be Reisi, imagine them after an after-work relationship. If you don't care, well it shouldn't matter then ;) When I finish with this story, I will probably write two bonus chapters. One will be for what it would be like if Seri chose Izumo, and the other for what it would be like if she chose Reisi. **

****I had wondered how many people would actually remember Izumo's vision from chapter 26 of GP. Honestly, there's a lot more on that and you will understand better later on ;)**

****I searched around for a decent Japanese name that would mean protector and the best I came across was 'Tamotsu'. I just can't figure out if 'Chitose' is Chitose's first name or surname. I think it's his surname so his son's name is 'Tamotsu Chitose'.**

****The memory Anna is suppressing will be explained in the next chapter. **

**Thank you, all of you who follow, review and favorite this story.**

**For all those who reviewed:**

_**Maya095: Hi there, and I'm glad you like it, and Akemi's 'dirty' behavior :) **_

_**Bre Renee: Aw...I made you cry? I won't deny that that was the reaction I had been hoping for because I had cried a little when I wrote that chapter as well. Thanks for those nice words and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too :)**_

_**laxus23: You really like Anna and Izumo? Glad you liked those parts :)**_

_**xNightDreamerx: You cried? I cried too! Seriously lol. A lot of the things Anna is up to will be found out eventually. Hope you look forward to it then :)**_

_**EmbersofImagination: I have a lot I could write in response to you for that part about the guy on the bike but I would end up spoiling things for you ;) There won't be anything like reincarnation or parallel selves in this story. I've watched some episodes of Tsubasa before and it won't be anything like that. You would understand eventually. Thanks for PMing me some of the errors. I will PM you right back because there's some things I wanted to ask you regarding the grammar. Once I understand better, I will use it throughout the documents. Thanks a lot :)**_

_**WithLoveAlways: Haha you made me laugh at 'Mikoto's bitchiness'. You stole your niece's drink? Lol. I'm sorry you feel like that right now, and I hope things get better for you. I mentioned earlier that the part with the bike was from Chapter 26 and you'll understand in time what the story with that vision is ;) I don't want to give away anything on it :) Akemi was...hm...let's just say she was hungover but she said that to Kei to harass him! Thanks for your support and I'll really look forward to hearing from you again!**_

_**princessforeveralone: I'm glad you were able to finish the chapter :) Yes, the juice was really wine. I hope you enjoyed the flashbacks with Tatara in this chapter as well even though they were only a few :)**_

_**magicalnana: I made sure to put in Anna/Mikoto moments because I had promised and there will be more to come as well. Hope you enjoyed them this time :)**_

_**Mandy Lestrange: Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**_

_**Indochine: I'm really pleased that you understood the chapter in that way because it really does go hand in hand with Anna's decision to be more 'understanding' in this chapter :) I have a grand plan for everyone, not sure if I will make it an angry scene but I do have a good idea up my sleeve that I'm just itching to write, but I won't quite yet ;) To answer your questions well for the Izumo/Seri moments I explained in the A/N and the chapter mentions it a little with Anna's thoughts. Sorry if you're a bit disappointed by that, but I will be staying focused on Anna/Mikoto. I actually have a tumblr account but I never bothered to try to learn how to use tumblr so I just don't bother with it. I go through tumblr anonymously I guess. I haven't continued with Psycho-Pass...yet. I will eventually though. Not quite sure when. Hey, so exams will be over soon for you! Awesome! Yes, vacation feels so good! Soon, you'll be enjoying it as well :)**_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: I'm glad you really enjoyed the chapter, and you're welcome. Yes, I'm quite sure Kei looked 'droolable' ;)**_

_**AndieVC: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and school's over for me (for now) so I'm just relaxing and focusing on this story for the time being :)**_

_**kuronekousako: You'll understand a lot of what's going on with the clansmen and Mikoto later on ;)**_

_**tamachon: I'm glad you're keeping up with the sequel :) I hadn't expected that Anna and Kei's interaction from that chapter would have such an enormous effect but there will be more Mikoto/Anna moments and some more Kei/Anna moments ;)**_

_**Ihadyprilla: I read your review from my phone so *high five* through the phone :D Well, the story is an Anna/Mikoto one so more than likely, you'll probably get disappointed. I guess 13 years is a wide gap but I do know of marriages (including my parents') where the age gap is big but things turned out pretty well. Anna won't be a young widow in this story-if she gets married :) I won't answer your question regarding the guy on the motorcycle yet. You will understand later on ;)**_

_**Flower 117: Yes, you guessed absolutely correctly! No, I don't think that anyone else loves him as much as she does :) A lot of people have said that they really liked the Kei/Anna moments from the last chapter and although I am tempted to make it into a serious love triangle, I won't. I don't want to really complicate things too much because it will get a bit more complicated later on :)**_

_**nannerlovessnickers: Hope exams are going well with you! I guess this chapter answers your question (Anna barely got away from being discovered!)**_

**Thanks again, everyone.**

**Let me know your thoughts on this chapter.**

**God bless :)**


	5. Yata's Misunderstanding

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_***A special thank you to EmbersofImagination who has given me some excellent advice regarding grammar usage and rules for this story, as well as for pointing out certain errors to me. Thank you so, so much and I appreciate all your help.**_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 5: Yata's Misunderstanding**_

"Didn't Anna come down yet?" Izumo interrupted Yata's animated chatter. The short fellow shrugged.

"She wasn't down here when I came in, and I arrived here an hour ago."

Izumo looked over to Mikoto who was eating beef roast. His mannerisms were very lazy as he used a fork to gather up his meat. Yet, somehow he reminded the bartender of a lion who was content with slowly savoring his meal.

"I wasn't here earlier. Did she come in for breakfast?" he directed his question at the King.

Mikoto glanced up and then shrugged.

Izumo fought hard to not let out an exasperated breath at the King's lack of interest in Anna's activities.

"You're really something else, Mikoto. Anna could have left for all we know and-"

"She's still here. I can sense her up in her room," Mikoto cut in.

Irked now, Izumo demanded of him, "And did she come down to eat?"

"I don't know. I woke up a couple minutes before Yata came in."

Izumo figured then that Mikoto probably wouldn't bother Anna without good reason and if he didn't see her face downstairs while she was still in Homra, then he would have eventually gone to find out if anything was wrong.

Seeing as Mikoto was eating, he turned to Yata instead.

"Go on up and ask her if she's hungry, will you? Tell her that if she wants, I will prepare toast and eggs for her, or she can eat beef roast with Mikoto,"

Yata nodded and headed to Anna's room to convey Izumo's message.

* * *

Yata knocked twice. He frowned when Anna didn't answer. So, he cracked open the door a little and saw that Anna was lying on her side, curled up in a ball.

He thought she was probably sleeping so he moved to shut the door.

"What is it, Misaki?" her soft voice flowed over to him, making him pause.

"Ah...Kusanagi-san wants to know if you're hungry and if you want, he will cook an egg sandwich for you or you can have beef roast," Yata answered.

Anna seemed to curl herself into a tighter ball.

Yata frowned and opened the door wider to give himself room to enter. "Anna, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

Her mouth twisted slightly, making the skateboarder believe that she was definitely unwell.

"Maybe some food might make you feel better. The eggs-"

"I don't want eggs. I might throw up,"

Yata was silent for a moment as he observed the princess in her currently supposedly ill state. Anna looked very tired, lethargic perhaps, she didn't want to eat and seemed to have a bout of nausea as she claimed the eggs could make her throw up.

_The beautiful woman covered her mouth as Izumo placed an omelette in front of Chitose who was sitting at her side. _

"_What's wrong?" Yata asked Chitose's wife. _

_She smiled kindly at him. "It's morning sickness. My body is just taking time to adjust to it and the response is for me to get sick. I can't stomach certain foods like eggs and I'm nauseous every morning, and so tired sometimes too!"_

Yata hadn't meant to ask, and he hadn't even considered how stupid it was of him to even draw that conclusion, but the words just slipped out of his mouth: "Are you pregnant too?"

Anna's eyes sprang open at his words.

* * *

Izumo and Mikoto turned around when they heard a loud girlish scream, then the noise of someone crashing down the stairs, and finally Yata running into the bar as red marbles chased after him. Mikoto immediately sent a wall of fire in front of them, halting them in their tracks and forcing them to fall the ground in a smoky clatter. This left black marks on the polished area.

"No! My floor!" Izumo cried out in horror. He turned to Mikoto, clearly angry. "Couldn't you have done something else?!"

Mikoto shrugged. "They would have hit him."

"What did you do?" Izumo demanded of the skateboarder now, figuring that he also deserved some of the brunt of his displeasure.

"I didn't do anything! I just asked if she was pregnant-"

"Why the hell would you ask that?!"

Yata explained why and Izumo slapped a hand to his face. "Yata-chan, what a stupid thing to say," he remarked.

"But it is a possibility, isn't it?"

Mikoto let out a weary sigh as he dropped his fork into his empty plate.

"What's the date today?" he questioned Izumo.

"December twenty ninth. Why?"

Mikoto gave a slight frown before getting up and shoving his hands into his pockets. He proceeded to walk away and head to Anna's room.

"Hey Kusanagi-san, what do you think they'll name the baby?" Yata questioned with curious excitement coming on his face.

"'They'?" Izumo repeated.

"Yeah-Anna and Mikoto-san. The only baby Anna would have is his...right?"

Izumo smiled, quite amused. Everyone could see that there was something between Mikoto and Anna except the people in question themselves.

"Anna's not pregnant, Yata-chan."

* * *

Anna had lost track of time.

She had forgotten dates and she had forgotten to check the calendar to keep regular tabs on her cycle. She had been so caught up in the misery of what was going with her clan that she hadn't even taken into account that alcohol messed with her hormones and had led to her period coming in two days earlier than expected.

That explained her crazy appetite the day before.

But right now, Anna could care less about eating.

She was in pain.

She had really bad stomach cramps and here she was, lying down in the middle of her bed on her back, upstairs in Bar Homra. She had a hand flung across her eyes as her lower stomach twisted.

She had come to have a regular cycle now as her bleeding tended to last up to five days. Her cramps were not as severe as before, but they could be quite painful on the first two days. There was one specific painkiller that worked just fine for her and unfortunately, because she had returned home earlier than expected, she had not brought any with her.

She quietly cursed herself for only such pain could bring her to feel this way.

Most pharmacies sold the painkiller, and Anna could ask Yata to go down to the pharmacy for her because she was too weak to do so herself.

However, she wasn't keen on asking her clansman for anything. The main reason was that there was 'Menstruation' written big and bold across the package as it was specific for women for that reason and Yata would probably die of embarrassment trying to purchase it for her.

She would also feel embarrassed to ask him to do something like that for her. She was quite sure even Emi never asked him to get stuff like that for her.

"Stupid Misaki," she muttered, irritated with him for daring to ask her if she was pregnant. Did he think she went off to Seneca to sleep around?

Anna froze when she felt the bed depress beside her.

Slowly, she lifted her arm from her eyes and blinked at the sight of Mikoto's larger body lying beside hers. He had stretched out his legs and placed his arms behind his red head as he gazed up at the ceiling with an unlit cigarette between his lips.

It had been a while since the two of them had lain down on a bed together. This brought back so much familiarity of lying down on soft sheets beside Mikoto's warm body on calm, cool mornings.

"Mikoto?" she whispered his name.

"Did you eat yet?" he asked her around his cigarette.

"No," she responded quietly.

He turned his head then and and leaned on his elbow with his cheek in a palm as he looked at her with a quiet, brooding atmosphere about him. "You'll go downstairs and eat before you have Yata completely convinced that you're pregnant,"

Anna's mouth twisted slightly as she turned her head.

"I'm not pregnant."

In response, Mikoto's large hand caught the hem of her red nightshirt and pushed it upward to her ribs, revealed her very pale, flat stomach. Thankfully, she was also wearing on black shorts with her nightshirt.

Anna was surprised by his actions until he gently lay his large hand on her lower stomach, just a little under her navel.

"It's here, isn't it?" he questioned and Anna nodded. Mikoto knew her behavior quite well and she wasn't surprised that he figured out that she was having severe cramps.

His hand began to softly glow red and Anna gasped as she felt the heat enter her body and soothe her pain. Mikoto was about to draw back his hand, thinking he had hurt her, but she caught his wrist and held it, indicating that he should not in anyway stop.

She let out a long sigh of relief as the hurt ebbed away and Mikoto was very cautious about how much heat he used on her.

When he felt that it was too much, he began to decrease his power until the red glow in his hand gradually disappeared.

Anna's hand on his wrist moved to lie over his which remained on her stomach.

"Better?" he murmured and leaned off his arm so that he could gather her closer to him.

Anna nodded and shifted her hand to his arm. "Thank you," she whispered gratefully as she tucked her head under his chin so that her face was buried into his neck as she remained lying on her back. Although she hadn't cuddled with him like this in a long time, it seemed so normal and natural to do so again. She also noted that she due to her growth, she fit better in his arms as opposed to when she was a child; now she could actually feel the majority of the length of his powerful body against hers.

Absently, the thumb of his hand on her stomach began to stroke her soft skin in an almost comforting manner.

Anna suddenly realized something.

The only time Mikoto had done such a thing for her had been when he had been reverted back to age fourteen!

Then that meant that...he remembered.

She drew back her face and blinked her gray eyes up at him. "Mikoto?"

He looked at her. "What?"

"You...remember...when you were in Seneca, with me?"

Mikoto snorted. "Yeah,"

"Then..."

"Just bits and pieces. My memories get triggered off by something familiar."

"I see," she murmured at his explanation and settled herself against him once more. What surprised her was that he bent his head so that he nuzzle her at his favorite spot, the spot where he used to affectionately rub his nose and force her to sleep.

And indeed, a wave of sleepiness passed over her.

* * *

_It was clearly morning and it was quite a peaceful morning. Mikoto found himself lying in bed with Anna again. She was wearing different clothing, however it was a white nightshirt sprinkled with red and green flowers on it. His hand was still on her stomach, but strangely enough, it didn't look like his hand._

_It looked a little too smooth, pale and a bit smaller than his own. _

_Not only that, he realized that her stomach wasn't flat. There was a swelling, as if she was pregnant. His eyes shot to hers and to his shock, he saw that she was smiling beautifully at him, so warmly._

_Suddenly, a child approached the bed. A little girl who couldn't be more than four or five years old. She had short, pale colored hair and her eyes were large gray. She was very cute and it was then Mikoto realized that the child was Anna._

_He was completely confused and as he blinked, he suddenly found that he was now standing at the side of the bed. _

_His hands were tiny as they held onto the mattress and he found that he was looking at the Anna on the bed now, only she didn't look like her anymore. The woman there had features that were similar to Anna with her pale hair and skin, but her nose wasn't as pointed as Anna's and her lips were a bit different too. Mikoto realized that this was Anna's mother. _

_There was a man lying beside this woman, and **his** hand was on her stomach. His hair was dark and he had a very close resemblance to Mikoto's former teacher, Honami Kushina. That meant that the man was Anna's father. It was then that Mikoto realized that this was a memory of Anna's and that he was currently in her body, experiencing what she had experienced._

"_Anna, would you like to feel the baby kick?" her mother asked._

_Mikoto could feel Anna's body nod and suddenly he was lifted from the ground by the strong hands of Anna's father. _

_Mikoto, not really having known the love of a parent, could suddenly see that this man, Anna's father, truly loved his daughter. He placed the girl in the middle of the bed and the mother took her hand and placed it on her stomach._

_Mikoto could feel it then, a soft movement, very, very light. It was strange but he could sense life coming from this unborn being._

_Mikoto blinked again and suddenly, he was standing outside a glass wall where everything was dark and from behind there, he now become an outside observer to Anna's memory for he could see the parents and their daughter interact lovingly. _

"_I had forgotten this," a familiar voice said beside him._

_Mikoto glanced to his side to see Anna standing there with a palm on the glass screen. Her face was blank of any emotion. _

_"I fought this memory for a long time. I hadn't wanted to remember," she confided in a soft voice. _

"_The child..."_

"_Died," Anna responded as she turned her sad gaze on him. Mikoto could see that she was desperately trying to keep her facial features from showing any emotion but he wouldn't let her hold in this pain._

_With one long, strong arm, he caught her around the waist and pulled her against him. She leaned into him and buried her face into his strong chest, grateful for his warmth and comfort. _

"_It would have been a boy. I could sense it. Maybe he might have been like me," she began. "But I'll never know. When the accident happened that killed my parents, my mother died and the baby died too."_

_Mikoto held her tightly as she began to sob. _

_Had things gone differently, Anna might have had a brother._

* * *

Anna opened her wide gray eyes to feel Mikoto's knuckle on her cheek, gently wiping away a tear. She could feel the metal of his ring brush against her skin. Most of the time, metal tended to be cold, but on Mikoto, it was always warm.

Mikoto was also not one to give words of comfort. He just didn't know what to say and he just wasn't the type to have a heart to heart talk with.

But he listened.

And he could offer her physical comfort with hugs and soft affectionate kisses.

Just as he was doing right now as his warm lips pressed against her forehead as she gripped the material of his white shirt tightly.

His hand moved to her arm which he gently stroked and never once did he tell her to stop crying as he gathered her closer to him by wrapping a strong arm around her waist. He was also being very gentle with her because he was very much aware of her physical condition right now.

She was not a person who sobbed loudly for her tears tended to come more silently.

Mikoto, in a patient manner he reserved only for Anna, waited for them to cease.

She lifted her face from his strong, warm chest and looked up at him with slightly reddened eyes. "Mikoto?"

"Mm?" He shifted his head downward to look upon her pretty face.

"Is becoming a strain genetic?"

Mikoto blinked twice at her question. Then, he patted her head comfortingly with the hand of his arm she was lying on.

"No," he assured her. "not as far as we know right now. Strains are said to be people who don't need to get power from Kings because they already have their own power. It is rumored that their powers also originate with the Dresden Slate but no one really knows for sure."

"I know that...but there hasn't been evidence to suggest that strain ability might be genetic?"

"Not as far as I know."

Anna lowered her head to his chest then. "I see," she whispered.

Mikoto's hand moved to the back of head and gently he ran his fingers through her hair, softly massaging her scalp. Anna let out a soft sigh at the soothing, relaxing feelings his actions generated on her.

"Chitose's child is a strain," Mikoto stated.

Anna nodded. She didn't need to question how he knew for Mikoto had been sitting opposite her on the couch when she had asked Maria if she would be upset if her son turned out to be a strain as well. He would have taken note of her strange question.

"He will be strong, and good. I don't know what his power is exactly, but he might be scary like Maria and flirty like Chitose," Anna informed him.

She heard Mikoto snort above her head. "He'll be a bad tempered womanizer."

Anna lifted her head slightly to look up at him. She managed a tiny smile for Mikoto. "Yes," she confirmed.

Mikoto was glad to see her smiling. The memory of her unborn sibling had greatly upset her.

Then, Anna suddenly lost her smile much to his disappointment.

Her eyes faltered as she questioned, "Is it bad to think that I'm glad my brother was never born?"

Mikoto thought over her response. He knew the reason she was saying that was because she still suspected that there might have been some genetics involved in the birth of strains. Had her brother also been born, Mizuchi might have carried out experiments on him as well. In fact, Mizuchi might have still run hideous tests on him just to test out that theory about genetics and strains. If the boy had been born then he could have used both him and Anna as leverage for himself to gain control over the clan if the child had also been a strain.

Those tests would have been done on the boy from birth and they would have been horrible, terrifying and traumatic. Mizuchi would have used all sorts of excuses to get the parents to give him the child. He would even killed them after his birth just to get control of him, just as he had done to Anna. There was no way the boy's mental health would have withstood it. In a way, as unkind as it was to say, it was a good thing he hadn't been allowed to enter into this world as he had avoided a cruel fate.

"No," Mikoto answered her earlier question.

Anna wondered if it was her hormones, or if it was that she knew Mikoto would listen as he was the one who was currently comforting her, but somehow she found it easy to confide certain things in him.

"I had wanted children when I was little because my parents were happy together. I stopped thinking about it after they died."

"And now?"

Anna let out a soft sigh as she focused her eyes on the material of his white t-shirt. She reached out and began to fiddle with the pendant of the necklace he always wore.

"I don't know. Tamotsu is very cute and he reminded me of the different names I used to think up for my future children," Anna dropped the pendant and looked up at him. "what about Mikoto? Do you want children?"

"Never thought about it," he replied.

"Mikoto's son will be strong," Anna stated.

Mikoto was amused although he didn't show it. He didn't really think much on it but he had a feeling that any child he had (if he ever had any as he had no current plans to create any off-spring) would have a horrible temper and would be a mischievous little brat.

Anna went back to playing with the pendant but kept her wide eyes on Mikoto. "If Mikoto has a son one day, what would you name him?"

Mikoto looked thoughtful-for about a second. Then he let out a sigh for he felt too lazy to bother. "You pick one."

Anna's mouth formed a thin, straight line, indicating that she was thinking hard about this. When her lips relaxed, she answered his question.

"Mikoto's first son should be named Yuichi," Anna replied.

Mikoto nodded, thinking in a rather absentminded manner that it was a nice name.

"That was the name I was going to give my son," she explained to him.

Mikoto grunted. "You did a lot of thinking for someone so little."

Anna nodded. "It's because my parents had been trying to think up names and didn't get any yet for the baby so I decided early on that I wouldn't know what I wanted to name my children. That way I wouldn't have the same problem as they did,"

"Is that so?"

Anna made a soft sound of assertion.

Mikoto gave a lopsided frown as he drew his hand from her hair and rested it on her thin arm. "What will you name your son then?"

Anna looked up at him and to his surprise, she smiled again but it was a rather sad smile.

"If I have a son, I want to name him after Tatara."

Mikoto stiffened for a moment. He hadn't expected her to say that and he in no way saw any reason to condemn her for her choice.

"I see," he murmured and lifted his head in order to kiss her temple gently before he withdrew his arms and turned the other way. Anna's bed was rather soft and comfortable and he didn't think she would mind him taking a nap there.

"Mikoto."

"Hm?" He found his pillow to be a bit lumpy and as he searched under it, he found a familiar _ugly_ plushie which he proceeded to deliberately stuff in a corner.

Once that _hideous_ thing whose existence proved to still be a thorn in Mikoto's side, was safely out of sight, he started to close his eyes and relax.

"Daughter."

"Uh-huh," he muttered, already half-asleep.

"Mikoto," she grumbled as she sat up and knelt beside him. She proceeded to use her small hands to shake his bicep. "I named our sons, now you name our daughters."

Mikoto grunted.

"Anna."

"Huh?"

"I'll name my daughter 'Anna'," he clarified. He had hoped she would feel touched by that and leave him alone.

However, that was not the case.

"You'll confuse us."

Mikoto let out an irritated huff as he moved to lie flat on his back. Anna was definitely in one of those moods she got whenever she had her cycle. He wouldn't call her nagging because she didn't exactly harass him to the point of where he could her that. She wasn't annoying either but he could go as far as to call her a bit 'spoiled' for her insistence upon certain things.

She also tended to act like a kitten who just wanted to sleep and drink milk all day long until she purred. He didn't really mind because he was a big lazy lion himself anyway.

He had come across her being like this occasionally when she came home. With her menstrual cycle not having such a toll on her anymore, it was easier for her to stay home around this time instead of having to receive medical attention in Seneca.

However, he had been advised by Yuki Natsume to monitor her.

Mikoto sighed and lifted his arm which her wrapped around Anna's shoulders. His other arm went behind his head as he turned to look at the pretty girl beside him. He gently ushered Anna to lie down beside him again. Once she lay her head comfortably on his shoulder with her hands tucked at his side, he decided to reply to her.

"Sumiko."

Anna's eyes widened in shock. _Sumiko_? That was her maid cafe name!

"Why did you choose-?"

"Because it's associated with purity. Name your daughter that," he answered. He proceeded to cuddle her against him, forcing her to bury her face into his chest as his long arms chained her to him.

She had wanted to tell him about that strange vision she had where she was holding a baby that was possibly either of theirs and who Tamotsu was going to the protector of, and that Sumiko was also her maid cafe name, but Anna knew that Mikoto was done talking now: he was going to sleep.

* * *

"You said she wasn't pregnant," Yata hissed at Izumo as they both tiptoed away from Anna's door. Mikoto might have sensed them there, but he probably didn't really care.

The pair had only heard a small part of their conversation which was when they had starting talking about baby names.

As they furthered away from the door, Izumo placed a calm hand on the shorter man's head. He smiled but in a cold, creepy way.

"Yata-chan, you do understand that Anna turned sixteen just a few weeks ago, don't you?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then the time Anna would have to have conceived a child when she was still _fifteen_ in order for her to be showing signs of morning sickness."

Yata went silent and Izumo smiled with all his teeth at him. "Mikoto wouldn't touch a fifteen year old. The age of consent in Shizume City is seventeen and exceptions are only made in the case of marriage with parental consent for girls of age sixteen. Got it?"

Yata nodded quickly. "Yeah, but Mikoto-san never cared about rules," the skateboarder pointed out.

Izumo sighed and released Yata as they went down the stairs.

"Anna is the only exception; he will keep the rules for her, or he will break them at his own convenience as long as it meant that he kept her safe,"

_Even from himself_, the bartender silently added.

* * *

Akemi frowned as she looked at the message on her PDA. Anna wasn't coming back today because she wasn't well. Akemi thought it was better that her friend remain in Shizume City as the rumored blizzard had just been confirmed and was expected to blow into Seneca by evening.

As such, everyone was being let off from work early to go ahead and shop for all their necessary items to stock up on in the event that they ended up getting snowed in and having power shortages.

The blizzard might eventually move into Shizume City, and Akemi felt that her friend would be better staying with her family in the City instead of in the mountains for the blonde had seen for herself just how extra warmly Anna tended to dress in the mountains. The cold weather never really did sit well with her.

In fact, the only time Anna didn't seem to mind the cold was when they were out bounty hunting or when she was fighting. Akemi never really understood why but she assumed that maybe Anna's blood got all fired up from the knowledge that she was going to fight. It was a strange reason, but it was the only one she could think of.

"Ah, Akemi. I want you to meet our new employee," Sayuri stated, interrupting her employee's thoughts.

Akemi glanced up from the large pile of dishes in the sink that had been left behind by the lunch crowd.

There stood a handsome young man with hair in a caramel color. It was in a shade very much like Kei's, only it was longer and tied into a ponytail.

Without a doubt, this person was older than her by approximate three to four years. He had brown eyes and a piercing on either ears where tiny silver studs resided.

This person reminded Akemi of someone, someone very familiar.

"Brother," came a voice and the three people turned around to see that Kei had just entered into the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N: I finally introduced Kei's brother! **

**Just wanted to let you know not to expect too much from any potential babies from Anna or Mikoto yet. I won't get into anything much with that _until_ I'm done dealing with the romance in this story. **

*****Go back to Chapter Chapter 37 and 38 of GP to understand how Mikoto came to know using heat soothed menstrual cramps. **

**I don't know if I need to go back to any other chapters, but feel free to ask me to clarify something you don't understand (and I will as long as I don't believe it would spoil the story for you in any kind of way)**

**For all of you who follow, favorite and review this story, thank you so much. You really encourage me and make me motivated to keep on writing this story. For all who reviewed:**

_**Indochine: Were you having a bad day? I hope things are better with you and I'm glad the chapter cheered you up :) I'm pleased that you thought Chitose's little family was cute and no, no rabbit for Anna! Not with Mikoto still having a love/hate relationship for a toy (Lion-O) of all things! XD It's evening here for me, so I hope you have a good evening where you are as well :) Take care and good luck with your exams! They'll soon be over!**_

_**pandora-dreams: Hello! I can't promise jealousy from Mikoto quite yet, but I do have plans on how to get him to go after Anna! It's alright that this is the first time you have reviewed, I'm more pleased to know that you have kept on reading this story from since the first chapter of Growing Pains. Thank you :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: Ah yes, poor bunny! At least he's safe away from Kamamoto!**_

_**Gorelotte: It's not a matter of him being a smart man. Realistically, he's quite intelligent and thoughtful for not touching a girl who only just turned sixteen. **_

_**buchielle: I remember that you were the first person ever to review Growing Pains! I'm so glad that you're also reading the sequel :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**_

_**WithLoveAlways: It's always an honor for me to have someone review :) I'm glad that you really liked that part with Maria and Chitose and their baby. I hope your brother has settled down with a lovely girl and gives you lots of cute nieces and nephews ;) I think even Anna forgot she was hung over when she got back until she started to get a headache again. Now you understand why Anna was eating so much. Aww...well the black bunny died! I felt bad to write that in but he did end up dying and that was one of the things Fujishima used to get Izumo to feel sorry for the white rabbit :/ Maybe the bunny will get a new mate :) What Anna and Mikoto were doing is sometimes called 'girlfriend' push-ups. There are different positions to do it in, but I thought that the one I chose was the most intimate. I'm really pleased to know that you thought my description of Anna's feelings were good. I'm really happy that you enjoyed all these moments in the story :)**_

_**Guest: I did some double checking and I think that 'Yo' is actually his first name. Either way, thanks for answering my question :)**_

_**AriustheHeretic: Well, I do plan on writing in a little on that particular child Anna was holding but I may have to do that much, much later on so by that time (which is a long way off) you would know :)**_

_**kuronekousako: I'm glad you looked those parts and hope you looked the fluffy scenes in this chapter too!**_

_**SpiritedQueen: I'm pleased that you're keeping up with the sequel and I'm glad you liked those parts. Well, maybe there will be more sexual scenes, maybe there won't be :P **__**Remember that the story is rated 'M' for a reason ;)**_

_**xNightDreamerx: Wow, I didn't know that that scene would have such an impact and I'm glad it did! I watched 2 episodes from Psycho Pass. I will watch more episodes later on :)**_

_**creativeactive: Hope you keep enjoying it :)**_

_**Yanniesama: Thank you, and best of luck with your story. I will post a special chapter on Seri and Izumo when I'm done with this story. If you like them to be together, you can imagine that they're having a secret relationship for the time being :) Hope you liked this chapter too :)**_

_**magicalnana: Thanks so much! Well, right now Anna herself doesn't know whose baby she's holding. It is only assumed that the only child that Chitose and Maria's son could become the protector of is either Mikoto or Anna's child ;) **_

_**Ihadyprilla: Well, you have some interesting theories but remember that with Kei's character you're making assumptions that he's lonely but what was actually stated about his personality is that he can be very insincere personality-wise in order to get others to like him and not exactly because he is lonely. That was in Chapter 32. I guess that brings out the assumption that he could be lonely but you'll understand some more on Kei a little later on. He has a very vital role in this story :) I'm really pleased though that I have you theorizing a lot ;)**_

**Thanks again everyone and let me know your thoughts on this chapter.**

**Until next time, God bless :)**


	6. Peanut Butter

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 6: Peanut Butter**_

_Mikoto was capable of preparing meals. _

_That didn't mean that he **liked** doing it._

_That didn't meant that he **wanted** to do it._

_But that didn't mean that he was going to let a little girl like Anna starve. He did care enough about her well being to make something for her to eat on days when neither Tatara or Izumo were not able to come in. _

_Mikoto was also no grand master chef either and due to his laziness, Anna mostly wound up eating sandwiches. She didn't mind because he sometimes took her out later to get something to eat. That was because the idea of cooking anything himself bored him to death and it was easier to just purchase a meal anyway. _

"_Why is there only strawberry jelly?" Mikoto muttered one day as he pasted some of the red goo onto a slice of bread. Anna was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, waiting for him to finish preparing her breakfast. _

_Here was the great Red King, the most fearsome man in Shizume City, who could defeat an army of men and who could strike fear into the most cold blooded killer...making a meal for a little girl. _

"_Tatara buys it," Anna responded._

_Mikoto didn't say anything else for he understood that their friend had simply chosen that flavor because it was red and it was the only color Anna could decipher. Adding color to her food made it more appealing to her. _

_Mikoto stuck that slice of bread onto another one. He figured he should probably cut it in half for her as he had often seen Tatara do. _

_So, he calmly lay the bread on the plate. Them he lifted up the knife he had been using to spread the jelly and watched as the light caught the edge of the blade. _

_He wasn't fooled; the knife was dull._

_Well, that wasn't so bad because sharp items shouldn't be around little kids anyway. _

_He wasn't really one who was great on presentation, but he didn't think that Anna deserved a sloppy sandwich. _

_So, with as much finesse as he could muster, he calmly drew the knife across so that the sandwich was made into two triangles._

_Anna proceeded to eat the food when Mikoto placed it in front of her. _

_Mikoto went onto make more sandwiches. He was a man with a large appetite and therefore one sandwich wouldn't suffice for himself. He also wanted to make sure Anna had enough to eat because she would never ask for more unless he questioned whether or not she was still hungry. _

_As he sat down to eat one of the sandwiches he had made, he observed the little girl for a moment. She was eating silently, but as she bit off overly large bites. Crumbs were stuck to the side of her face and because the peanut butter was so chewy, she seemed to have a hard time chewing. _

_In truth, she looked amusing._

_Anna glanced at him with her wide eyes. She tilted her head to the side and blinked at him in a rather inquisitive manner. She was obviously wondering if something was wrong for he was gazing at her. _

"_Drink your milk," he ordered.__  
_

_Anna nodded and used both hands to pick up the glass of milk._

_He remembered something suddenly and searched around behind the counter for it. After he found it, he lay it beside her plate. It was a huge, juicy, red apple. _

_Mikoto himself never really bothered with having balanced meals but he didn't believe that Anna should get his own bad habits. _

_Well, the apple looked nice enough. _

_Maybe he might have one too. _

_Mikoto ate his own sandwich thinking that while it might a hassle to have some responsibility toward the girl, he really didn't mind having a little companion around for breakfast._

* * *

Anna was dreaming of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Piles and piles of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

She was starving as she ate them but no matter how many she consumed, her stomach still yelled out like an angry beast for more.

Suddenly, a finger flicked at her forehead and Anna's eyes sprang open.

To her surprise, she saw Mikoto's handsome face hovering over hers. One of his long arms were curved over her head while the hand of the other one was placed on the soft skin of her body, just under her navel.

"Why did Mikoto do that?" she questioned as she lifted her hand to touch her forehead, rubbing the spot he had flicked.

He snorted. "Your stomach is growling so loudly that you didn't hear me call your name. I had to tap you."

That was no little 'tap' he gave her and she was quite sure her forehead had a red mark.

"My stomach isn't growling."

In rebellious disagreement, a horrible gurgling noise rose from her tummy and her cheek went red with embarrassment.

Mikoto began to chuckle at that. Anna had never heard him laugh out loud and it just made her blush even more.

Irked, she pushed his arm away. "I'm going to eat."

Mikoto caught her by the waist as she moved to go and pulled her against his lean torso as he sat up.

She tilted her head upward so that she could have a better look at him.

"Mikoto?"

His hand returned to her lower stomach where it had originally been. Lightly, he stroked her there.

More seriously now, he questioned her, "Are you hurting still?"

Her heart softened and her anger disappeared. She shook her head. "No, but I will still have to go to the pharmacy."

He made a soft grunt in response and pressed his lips to the middle of her forehead where he had flicked her to wake her up.

Then, in a rather abrupt manner, he let her go, pulled her blanket up to his chin and curled to his side to go into a deep sleep.

Anna's face gentled from its doll-like appearance to a soft smile at how quickly it was for Mikoto to nap anywhere so easily. It was also amusing to see how comfortable he had made her bed for himself. Over time, Izumo had seen it fit to make little changes to their rooms. Both herself and Mikoto had had smaller beds. Now, they both had larger ones.

She let out a soft sigh now and stood up as her traitorous stomach let out another angry growl. She was quite sure that she could get her own personal revenge on Mikoto for laughing at her by asking him to bring up a meal for her. He would do it with great reluctance that he would take no pains to hide-not because he didn't want to do it, but because he just wanted to sleep. Mikoto was never really one to be grudging about doing anything when asked. He just like lazing around like a huge, sleepy lion.

Walking to her chest of drawers, she opened the top one and found a pair of black trousers. She didn't need to worry about Mikoto watching her because not only would he not turn around when she was changing, he was sleeping like the dead anyway.

* * *

Beef roast would satisfy a late dinner for her but as of this moment, Anna wanted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a tall glass of milk. It was such a kiddie meal but she didn't really care because that was what she was currently craving.

So badly that she had actually _dreamt_ of it.

Anna had hoped that Izumo was still around when she woke up because she had not spent a lot of time with him since she had come back to Seneca the day before.

However, he wasn't there.

He had still left a note tacked onto the refrigerator, letting her know that he would come in later.

Apparently, the blizzard would be blowing into Shizume City by at least mid-morning tomorrow as it was expected to reach in Seneca by this evening. Izumo had therefore gone out to get supplies for both himself as well as Anna and Mikoto.

Anna had placed her PDA beside her plate for she had to call Akemi and find out if they had prepared for the blizzard.

Akemi answered on the second ring.

The blue eyed girl smiled upon seeing her best friend's face on the screen of her communication device.

"Anna! How are you? Are you better?"

Anna gave a small nod. She recognized the surroundings where Akemi was. "How come you're at Kei's?"

Akemi let out a soft sigh. She began to explain that Kei anemia had affected him today when she had come over to visit him.

The Natsume family insisted that the students who rented apartments in Seneca Town take shelter at the schools where there were back up generators and stored food. However, it was known that everyone would be more than likely be sleeping in the schools themselves in a sleeping bag in a room with a bunch of other people. The lack of privacy didn't sit too well with many students so the Natsume family did make allowances by having qualified people come around and check out the apartments of those who remained. They made sure that the apartments had back up generators and that the students had enough supplies.

Even during the blizzard, for a period of time, the family would have authorities skim the streets to ensure that no one was stranded in any kind of way.

Akemi and Kei had been allowed to stay in their apartments. They were supposed to have gone together to shop for food items although they did have enough in storage but with Kei getting ill, not much could be done. Akemi, concerned about him, had decided to stay over at his apartment for a while.

"Will you have enough food in case of anything?" Anna questioned.

"Kei's brother went on to do our shopping for us," Akemi replied.

Anna's eyebrows raised slightly. "Kei's brother?"

Akemi nodded on the screen. "Yeah. He came in today as a new employee. Apparently he's staying in Seneca for a couple of weeks, claiming he and Kei have some issues to sort out. I think that his brother pushed him away for a girl and Kei got upset about it."

"Kei had mentioned when we started working in the maid cafe that his brother had cut off some of the money he sent him."

"Yes. Kei's still mad about that and his brother is sorry so he's trying to make amends."

"I see," Anna murmured. She picked up her sandwich and eyed it carefully before deciding where to bite next. Seeing as there was a particular bit where the peanut butter was just oozing out, she immediately sank her teeth into it and pulled away that bit from the sandwich. She swallowed it after two heavy chomps and washed it down with some milk.

Akemi had seen her actions and she wasn't too surprised. There were times when Anna's appetite was so odd where it intensified to the point of where they rarely saw her without something in her hand that was not food. She also tended to eat in a strange manner too.

It wasn't that she ate greedily...she just ate as if it was the most casual thing to do but in a rather unexpectedly quick way.

Anna turned her attention to the screen again when she heard a noise and saw that Kei's face appeared in it. Akemi must have called him over to talk to Anna.

She blinked. "You look sick," she told him flatly.

He smiled in a friendly manner. He was looking rather pale. "Anemia," he informed her.

"Is it bad?"

"I don't think so. I was supposed to go for a check up but there wasn't enough time."

"I see," Anna said before biting into more of her sandwich.

"But I'll get better. I've been fine these last couple of years. I haven't had any problems with anemia since our second year in middle school."

Anna chewed her food and swallowed it. Before nipping at her food, she queried in a very expressionless way, "Does it have anything to do with Kei's brother?"

Kei looked a bit uncomfortable. "I don't think so. Anemia is something physical...not really emotional..."

"Emotional health affects physical health," Anna pointed out.

Kei sighed. Reluctantly, he admitted, "It's a possibility,"

The female nodded. "Akemi may have to stay the night here. The blizzard hasn't come in yet but the wind's blowing strongly,"

"And Kei's brother?"

"He's rented a room for a couple of days so he'll stay there. He's quite taken with Akemi, you know. Says she's real pretty although Akemi doesn't seem to like him that much."

With a straight face, Anna asked him, "Is Kei alright with his brother possibly taking Akemi away?"

Kei's eyes widened slightly.

"I don't know what you're saying, Anna."

Anna occasionally tended to slip into using the third person when speaking to others. Kei noted that this was also a way to decipher some of what she was actually thinking behind that doll-like face of hers; referring to herself in third person meant that she didn't understand something, was being subtly sarcastic, teasing or, ironically enough, dead serious.

Unfortunately, Kei didn't seem to understand what she was going through her head right now.

Anna didn't reply to Kei's words. He didn't even realize it but whenever Akemi started getting close to any other guys, he would become moody and even gloomy. When Akemi had first started dating Hajime Fumio, Kei had tried to separate Akemi from himself because he even he knew that his relationship with this female friend was a little too close to simply be called 'friends'.

They tended to act like a couple who did everything except kiss.

Anna decided to change the subject with Kei. "Are there any bounties out right now?"

"Not really. Everyone is more focused on the blizzard. I spoke to Satoshi though, whose dad is involved heavily with the National Security for this country and it seems as though there's a brand new criminal on the loose who is rumored to have found himself in Seneca."

"What is it about?"

Kei shrugged. "It's not something we should really get involved in. This guy is wanted because he's been suspected of several counts of white collar crime as well as drug trafficking. The issue with him though is that whenever there is anyone capable of giving solid evidence against him, the witness ends up dead. The person is usually poisoned. They're claiming that he might be in Seneca and he might have slipped in before word let out to the Natsume family that he was coming in. The authorities don't want anyone panicking as we have the blizzard coming in, but afterward they might let out some information on a bounty being offered."

"Any idea as to how much could be offered for him?"

"Not sure. Dangerous guys like that can run up to hundreds of thousands of yen. Anna, I don't want any of us involved in this. It's too dangerous," Kei said to her, very seriously.

"I understand," Anna responded.

There was a noise in the background and Kei turned his head to see what it was. Then he grinned widely. "Hey, say hi to my brother."

The PDA was shifted and suddenly, another face appeared on the sceen.

"Kei's brother," Anna stated as the person smiled happily at her.

The best way Anna could describe Kei's brother was that he looked every bit like Kei without Tatara's smile.

This person was quite handsome and had dimples when he smiled that made girls sigh with hearts in their eyes.

"Hi there! I'm Jirou Junichi but you can call me 'JJ'," he introduced himself.

"Anna," the girl responded.

The guy smiled widely. "You're really pretty. Kei really does outdo himself when it comes to making friends with beautiful girls and-"

The PDA was snatched away by Kei who Anna could hear snapping, "Quit flirting!"

Kei spoke to Anna again, "Akemi will be alright staying with me. I've already warned my brother off from bothering her when he's visiting,"

Anna was glad that Akemi would end up staying through the blizzard with Kei. After all, Anna felt that Akemi would be safer with him than by staying alone, snowed in.

* * *

Shortly after Anna hung up with Kei, Izumo walked into the bar with several shopping bags in his hands. Anna was already on her second sandwich.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "There's beef roast," he reminded her.

"I will eat it later," she informed him.

Izumo sighed and came in with the many bags.

"Does Izumo need help?"

He shook his head. "Yata is coming in just now,"

Anna nodded. Izumo headed to the back to drop off the purchases.

Yata came in with just as many bags. As soon as he saw Anna, he hurried over to her with the bags jangling and making all sorts of crinkly noises.

He bowed, surprising the girl. "I'm sorry for asking if you were pregnant!" he apologized in a loud, out of breath voice.

"It's alright, Misaki," she responded.

Yata straightened and grinned. "That's good! Ah, I was gonna get some pudding for you but I didn't think you would want it."

Anna turned away and took an extra large bite out of her sandwich. She then swallowed it after only a few chews as she washed it down with large gulp of milk.

"Uh...Anna?"

"My mouth's full," she told him and then took another chomp at her sandwich.

If Yata didn't know any better, he would think he had gotten her angry again. He shrugged and walked into the kitchen for he didn't think he wanted to get her upset anymore.

Anna sighed and lay down her half eaten sandwich. She wondered if it was really fair that she get mad at Yata. She could have just admitted that she would have been very pleased with the pudding.

However, him saying that just reminded her of how little time the young skateboarder spent with her now. She even remembered that time he rejected her request to go the Game Centre.

Figuring that she might be childish, she decided that she would mention to him that she would have wanted the pudding and that maybe next time, they could go together to purchase some.

Yes, she decided, that was perhaps the more mature thing to do.

Yata came out again.

"Yata," she began.

He turned to her with a friendly smile. "Sorry, Anna! I've gotta run! I need to make sure Emi is safe and warm for the blizzard!"

Then he hurried without her being able to say anything again.

Anna watched him go, feeling a bit sad.

"I swear that that boy obsesses over his girlfriend the way he obsesses over his skateboard," Izumo muttered. He had come in time to hear the young man's words.

Anna figured nothing could be worse than the way Yata tended to obsess over _Mikoto_.

He came behind the bar and patted Anna's head kindly. As he leaned on the counter, he questioned, "Are you better now?"

She nodded. He probably knew why she was feeling sick earlier.

"That's good. Even if Yata didn't pick up any pudding, I did. I know how much you and Mikoto like them even if you're both really adults now."

Anna tilted her head slightly. "Am I an adult now?"

Izumo picked up a random glass which he began to polish. "Technically, you should be. In human terms, you're only sixteen but mentally, and based on your Strain Type, I think you're actually older."

Anna nodded and picked up her sandwich again.

"How is work at the maid cafe?"

"It's fine. Mikoto told me name my daughter 'Sumiko'," Anna let him know.

Izumo had heard some of their conversation from earlier. He laughed a little. "Are you really pregnant?"

"Of course not," she stated. "he didn't know but Sumiko is my maid cafe name."

Izumo paused and glanced at her. "Seriously?"

She nodded.

"I didn't even know you had a maid cafe name," Izumo stated. He lay the glass down with a frown then went on to fold his arms with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Anna, have I been neglecting you?"

Anna shook her head. Out of everyone in Homra, Izumo was actually the only person who seemed to pay her mind.

He eyed her seriously. "Are you sure about that?"

She nodded.

He patted her head again. "That's good then."

Seeing that she had finished eaten, he picked up her dishes. "Here, let me take care of this for you,"

"Izumo, I can do it," Anna insisted but he shook his head at her as he walked off.

Izumo did take very good care of her. He even went out of his way to ensure that she and Mikoto would be alright during the blizzard by getting extra supplies.

They never asked, but Izumo always gave.

He also knew what exactly he needed to give.

But the problem was that he was treating her more and more like a child. She loved him to death as he was a wonderful guardian to her, but that didn't mean that his way of treating as of late did not irk her some kind of way.

_I'll tolerate it_, she told herself. Hadn't she decided that she would be more understanding?

Yes, she had, hadn't she?

And she always knew that Izumo acted this way because she was not home very often.

When Izumo returned a moment later, Anna asked, "Will you be alright at your apartment?"

The handsome bartender gave a little smirk, giving Anna the impression that he probably wouldn't be snowed in all alone.

"I will be perfectly fine, Anna," he assured her. As he found a cloth to wipe the counter with, he continued to say, "do you remember the last time we had a blizzard here?"

Anna nodded. She certainly did.

* * *

_**'It was mother who murdered me;**_

_**It was my father who ate me;**_

_**It was my sister Marlene**_

_**Who all my bones in pieces she found;**_

_**hem in a handkerchief she bound,**_

_**And laid them under the almond tree. **_

_**Kywitt, Kywitt, Kywitt I cry,**_

_**Oh what a beautiful bird am I!'**_

"_You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?! You just wanna scare me!" Yata cried as he pointed his finger at Tatara. Tatara had Anna on his lap and he had had her read out a particular verse from a certain Brothers Grimm fairy tale. They were sitting on a nearby couch. _

_Tatara smiled happily. "Of course not, Yata! I'm just helping Anna improve her reading skills and she loves the fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers! Right?" he turned his attention to the little girl on his lap._

_She gave a small nod. _

"_That's just an excuse! Anna can use the perfect tone to make any story sound scary and you're using that to your advantage!"_

"_Misaki," Anna voiced his name calmly._

_Too calmly._

_Yata froze. He wondered, **shit, did I offend her?! ** _

_The little mannequin-like child slid from Tatara's lap in a rush of red and black frills and lace. The little heels of her shoes tapped with her footsteps as she gracefully made her way to the young skateboarder. _

_Yata felt himself begin to sweat despite the blizzard that was raging outside. _

"_Ah...Anna?"_

"_**'If only I could have a child red as blood and as white as snow'**," she said._

_Yata was confused. "Eh?"_

"_A month passed and the snow disappeared; two months passed and it became green; three months passed and flowers began to grow; four months passed and-"_

"_Anna, w-why are you telling me this?" he demanded, afraid. _

"_Because the story is happy," Anna replied. _

"_But that verse you just said-"_

"_The child's stepmother killed him by slamming a chest lid on top of his head so that it broke off and-"_

"_What the hell are you saying to me?!" Yata shouted, freaked out. There was nothing about that that actually sounded happy. _

_Suddenly, aother a deep, sleepy voice demanded, "What's all the noise about?"_

_Anna hurried over to Mikoto's side. He was lying down on the mattress that had been pulled out of the couch. It was meant for any of the guys sleeping over tonight during the blizzard but Mikoto had thought it comfy enough to doze on, regardless of who came into the living-room. Anna knelt beside the King who was leaning on his elbows with his legs spread out on the mattress._

"_Mikoto-san, Totsuka-san is letting Anna read violent and scary stories!" Yata tattled. _

_Mikoto glanced at the little girl who had clasped onto his arm and then at his grinning friend who was sitting in on another couch of the living room. _

"_What story?"_

"_It's just a fairytale...like Cinderella," Tatara replied._

_Mikoto looked at her and blinked. "Is that so?"_

_Anna made a soft noise of assertion. _

"_Isn't Cinderella a happy story?" Yata asked._

"_The two stepsisters get their eyes plucked out and-"_

"_I don't want to hear it!" Yata cut him off. He was obviously very terrified. _

_Tatara laughed as he got up from the couch with the large fairytale book in his hand. It was a thick, leather-bound book and Yata saw in no way how that could be a children's book. _

_Weren't fairytales-and the books that contained them-supposed to be full of vibrancy, happiness and color?_

"_Would King like to listen to the story?" Tatara asked as he walked over to the pair who were sitting on the mattress still._

_Mikoto shrugged as he drew up one knee and rested an arm on it. "Go ahead," he replied while searching around for a cigarette. After finding one in the pocket of his jeans, he lifted it to his mouth and lit it. _

"_Wonderful!" Tatara exclaimed. He handed Anna the thick book which she clasped safely in her hands. Then, the young man lifted her and set her across on the the King's lap, startling him. Instinctively, the fearsome red head's arms went around her as he pressed down his knee again to ensure her comfort and safety. _

_Mikoto looked up at Tatara with slightly narrowed, questioning eyes with his cigarette still stuck between his lips. _

"_Anna will read to you. You can help her with the words she doesn't understand," Tatara explained._

_Mikoto didn't mind too much. He made sure that Anna leaned against his large body so that she was comfortable. _

_"What story would Mikoto prefer?" Anna queried. _

_"You choose one," he answered her._

_She decided on 'The Dragon's Grandmother'. _

_Soon, the other members of Homra were surrounding them in the bar, listening to Anna read. _

_Outside, the blizzard continued on, freezing everywhere in cold darkness, piling up layers upon layers of snow._

_But inside here, it was warm. Everyone was safe and comfortable in the cocoon of warmth this large family of theirs created._

* * *

_Izumo who had been doing a bit of cleaning in the bar came in a short time later and smiled warmly at the sight before him. Mikoto was sprawled off on the mattress while lying on his left side. His right arm rested on his right side, but his left arm was spread on, there, lying his firm bicep, close to his chest was Anna's white little head. A white blanket was carelessly twisted around her for it remained more on the middle of her body while her little feet and arms poked out. _

_Yet, she was sleeping so peacefully._

_Tatara was sleeping on the couch beside Mikoto, covered with a blanket as well. The other members had found a little space for themselves where they spread futons or little cots. They simply wanted to be near Mikoto and Anna as they slept through this raging blizzard._

_Izumo pondered about where he should sleep. He could always go take a nap in Anna or Mikoto's room, but it was so much nicer here with everyone around. So, he stepped over the tubby Kamamoto Rikio who was snoring like a bear under his futon, and he made his way over to Mikoto and Anna. _

_Mikoto was to Anna's left and there was a little space to her right, just enough to fit Izumo if he slept on his side._

_As silently as possible, he lay down. _

_It was so toasty and warm in here with the heat of everyone's body that there was no need for a blanket._

_Still, Izumo felt it necessary to tuck Anna's blanket around her more safely. Then, after removing his purple glasses, he curved his arms under his head. _

_Mikoto was sleeping in a very relaxed manner, and perhaps he would have no nightmare tonight._

_And perhaps, neither would Anna._

* * *

Cuddling herself against Mikoto's body used to be her favorite thing to do. It still was, although it was no longer as frequent.

Mikoto was very comfortable to snuggle with, especially during the cold months. Hugging his body was like hugging her own personal hot water bottle.

A hot water bottle that was long, and hard and lean with an extremely masculine scent on it.

"You played poker with the guys that evening and won," Izumo remarked, intruding into Anna's thoughts. That had happened earlier on, before Anna had started reading to everyone.

"Does Yata still suspect that I used my abilities?"

Izumo chuckled, "It was his accusation that made Tatara decide to have you read out a scary sounding fairytale, wasn't it?"

Anna nodded.

"Well, I think Yata got over it and decided that whether or not you used your actual power, it was still a lot of fun to watch a group of boastful men loose to one pretty little girl," Izumo said to her.

"He didn't know that I lost to Mikoto, did he?"

Izumo laughed. "No, I don't think he did."

Because despite her emotionless expressions, Mikoto could always decipher certain things about her.

Even if she didn't say anything.

She supposed that he had his own way of understanding her, just as she had her own way of understanding him.

Although lately, neither could really understand each other.

Anna looked around the bar. It was so empty compared to that time. There was not a soul in here. She could almost hear the echoes of the past where in a little corner of the bar, Dewa and Chitose had begun teaching her how to play cards. The others soon became attracted to the scene and Kamamoto and Yata joined.

Shouhei hadn't become a part of the Red Clan yet, neither had Eric, but Bando was already a member and he hurried over to watch as Anna beat the very same people who taught her to play the game.

And, of course, Fujishima had come in with a little stray puppy who had been shivering in the cold snow, in desperate need of shelter.

Yet today, no one but herself and Izumo were in the bar and even Izumo was going to leave just now.

"Different," Anna murmured.

"Hm? What did you say?" Izumo questioned, not quite hearing her soft whisper.

Anna shook her head. There was nothing she really could say. She didn't really see any reason to protest about how lonely the place was now. Everyone had their own things to do now, didn't they?

Still, she couldn't help but comment, "They don't really come around often,"

Izumo paused. Then he smiled.

"They do come around, Anna. Unfortunately, a lot of times you aren't home when they do."

"I see."

Izumo frowned slightly. He was about to say something, but Anna interrupted him to query about everyone's whereabouts.

"Well, Kamamoto's parents told him to stay with them in case there is an emergency. They aren't young people anymore and in case of anything, they could rely on him. Shouhei went to visit his mother. He dragged Bando along because it's in their old hometown. He thought it might be good if they visited some of their old hang outs. Fujishima is working at an animal shelter, ensuring that all the strays have somewhere warm to stay for the blizzard. He roped Eric into helping him out. Chitose stayed in the hospital with Maria. Neither really have a lot of relatives to help out with Tamotsu so Chitose wants to be with his wife as much as possible. We're thankful that the blizzard happened after he was born so that there's somewhere appropriate for the baby to be in case something dangerous happens. I think Dewa went out of town for a little while and Mikoto's sleeping upstairs. If the snow keeps up, you might have the King all to yourself for the New Year, Anna."

The girl nodded.

She didn't feel like talking anymore on this topic so she slid from her stool.

It was already three. She needed to go to the pharmacy to get the painkillers in case she got cramps again.

She searched around for her coat when Izumo went to the back again.

"Where are you going?" Mikoto's gruff voice demanded as he entered into the bar.

Anna glanced around to see that Mikoto had finally awakened from his nap. "I need to get some things from the pharmacy," she reminded him.

Mikoto walked over to the window behind the couch he sometimes napped on in the bar. He drew back the curtain slightly.

"It's freezing out there," he stated.

Anna pulled up the zipper of her thick black clothing.

"I'll be fine."

Anna heard the slow, quiet thud of his boots as he made his way over to her with his hands shoved into his pockets.

She looked up at him when he came to stand in front of her. With piercing eyes, he observed her face. He lifted his left hand and rested the knuckle of his index finger a little below her eye.

Her eyes were slightly swollen from her crying earlier.

Mikoto slowly lowered his hand. He didn't say anything as he glanced across the room to the window where the curtains had drawn back a little to give a peek of the weather outside. It was disturbingly cold.

Even if Anna claimed to be fine he didn't think she would be.

Not with those strong winds blowing up.

He also sensed that something wasn't right with her.

The feeling he got was the same feeling he had back when he had first met her and she would bottle up all her pain and misery inside, trying to truly become like a doll so that she couldn't feel...just so that her emotions wouldn't trickle through to others.

She had forced herself to become like that to the point of where her power reacted with her pain and it spilled out and hurt others.

Mikoto wondered if she was still thinking about what she had remembered earlier about the brother who had died with her mother when he was still in her womb. Anna would have had a very happy family life for she had been surrounded by parents who had loved her very much.

He supposed that she was probably still grieving a bit.

Mikoto frowned suddenly. He lowered his head closer to hers, making Anna surprised. She didn't show it, nor did she step back at the close proximity of his face to hers.

Suddenly, he sniffed twice. "Peanut butter?"

Anna nodded.

"Eat the beef roast when we get back," he ordered as he got his own jacket. Anna was glad that he was coming with her.

"I will," she promised. She had feeling that she would certainly want it when they returned home.

Mikoto returned his attention to her and after looking her dead in the eye, he calmly lowered his head and kissed the very corner of her mouth. She felt his hot tongue gently brush her skin before he quickly moved back.

"Mikoto?"

"Peanut butter," was his explanation and her cheeks reddened.

"Get your scarf," Mikoto ordered and she nodded. She had forgotten it upstairs.

Izumo came back to the bar at the same time.

"Where are you going?" he questioned.

"Pharmacy. With Anna."

Izumo nodded. He didn't mind as long as Anna was safe, and she would definitely be safe with Mikoto.

Izumo had a pile of envelopes in his hands.

"It didn't come," Izumo muttered.

"What?" Mikoto asked as he adjusted the hood of his fur lined jacket.

"The letter from Seneca. The blizzard is must have caused the post office to shut down," Izumo replied as he searched through the mail again.

"Does Anna know about the letter?" Mikoto questioned.

"No. Let's keep it that way...for now."

* * *

Kei leaned on his forearm as he lay down next to Akemi.

He smiled brilliantly at her.

She scowled in reply.

Here she was, trapped in a big, dark blue sleeping bag.

Who had trapped her here?

Kei.

_He_ had trapped he there.

How did he trap her here?

"_Akemi, the zipper seems to be stuck in this sleeping bag. Could you just get in and see if you can pull it around?" he asked her._

"_Are you planning on sleeping in this?" she asked as she got in and began to steadily pull the zipper. Kei caught hold of it from her when it neared her shoulder and he quickly pulled it across to her neck, trapping both her arms. _

"_Hey-what are you doing?!"_

Why had he trapped her there?

Because he didn't want her walking home with the cold, whipping wind, nor did he want her staying all alone when there was a blizzard.

Well, that was very sweet of him.

But that didn't mean that she wanted to be here!

"Let. Me. Out," she growled.

Kei's smile only widened as he reached down and gently stroked her soft cheek with his thumb. "My sweet, sweet, Akemi. You're not going anywhere until this blizzard is over," he proudly informed her.

She struggled like a wild cat caught in a net. "By that time, we'll snowed in!"

Kei lovingly lowered his head and kissed her forehead, making her cheeks redden. "At least you'll be snowed in with me,"

"I don't want to be snowed in with you!"

Kei moved to kiss her nose now, making her becoming extremely frightened.

Kei was mad. Really, really mad with her.

The psycho sadistic bastard was being all sweet to her and the sweeter he was, the more angry it meant that he actually was.

He couldn't fool her!

He never had! Just now he was going to do something mean to her like tug on her hair or pinch her!

However, Kei drew back and leaned on the soles of his feet as he knelt at her side.

With a very serious expression, he said, "I'm not letting you out of here, Akemi. I want you to remain safe with me,"

Akemi blinked at him. She huffed. "Since when did you get all worry-some?"

Kei chuckled and lifted a hand, gently patting her head. "I care about you, you know,"

Akemi's cheeks reddened even more at his words.

"What about your crazy brother?"

"He went back to his own apartment," Kei answered.

Well, at least it was some consolation that she would only have to deal with one Junichi brother.

Even if it was the one she had liked for a very long time.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for taking such a while with this chapter. Every time I sat down to complete it, someone kept interrupting me. I apologize if it's also not up to mark with the way I usually write, I just had to hurry this one down in order to not delay anymore. I also wanted to mention that just as with Growing Pains, this story will slowly develop. **

***The story by the Brothers Grimm spoken of in this chapter is called, 'The Almond Tree'. Some versions have it as 'The Juniper Tree'.**

**It has a happy ending although I cannot say that the actual content of the story was happy. **

****Chapter 25 of GP has when Anna talked a little about the original tale of Cinderella to Mikoto. **

*****Yata's fear was inspired by one of the Radio Dramas. I can't remember which one, but I know it's titled 'Ghost Story'. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can go on Youtube and look it up because there is a subtitled version of it somewhere there. **

******In case no one has heard, I've heard that the sequel to K anime will be released as a movie in 2014. I'm not quite sure if to look forward to it or not (is anyone else gonna die?)**

*******Kei's brother has an important role in this story but it won't be so apparent yet. His role will gradually grow :)I remember when he was mentioned in Growing Pains, a lot of readers thought that he might have been Tatara. Sadly, no. Jirou Junichi AKA JJ is NOT Tatara :/ But there will still be mentions of him (Tatara) throughout the story because he was and still is so important to everyone.**

*********Pay attention to that letter Izumo was talking about. It is a hint that something is going to happen (not right away though).**

**Thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and review this story.**

**For all who reviewed:**

_**laxus23: Well, remember it isn't certain if they will have children together.**_

_**Mandy Lestrange: I'm glad you liked it :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: I had promised cuteness for the last chapter and I thought that was cute. If that really happened in the anime, it would be really cool :)**_

_**WithLoveAlways: I ended up shortening the chapters because I would end up rushing them and having too many grammatical errors. I'm glad you don't mind that it's shorter :) I'm happy that I have fulfilled your wish! I'm also pleased that you liked all these different aspects of the chapter :) Kei's brother has an important role in this story :)**_

_**xxtoushiro: Well, I mentioned it in the A/N that when Kei talked about his brother in the prequel, others had asked if he was Tatara. He isn't :/ But I hope that you enjoy Jirou Junichi's role in the story :) **_

_**Arius the Heretic: I missed writing in the fluff :) You'll know a bit more on Kei's brother, but probably in later chapters ;)**_

_**nannerlovessnickers: You'll see more of his interaction later on :)**_

_**Indochine: Right before your exam? Glad I got you in time, and hope it might have relaxed your mind a bit before the big test! Are exams over for you yet? Thanks for reviewing on such limited time! PS: I won't let Anna get pregnant at 16 ;)**_

_**AndieVC: Mikoto might really have some situations where it's hard to control himself ;)**_

_**Guest: I'm pleased that you're enjoying older Anna. I try my best to keep her in character although it's a bit difficult from time to time. I'm glad you like all these different aspects of the story. I really appreciate that :) Eric will come visit in time :)**_

_**xNightDreamerx: Remember, no one really knows whose baby exactly it was that Anna was holding :P Maybe some dates might really do them some good :) Well, so far you can see he's a real flirt. I saw only two episodes of Psycho Pass but it seems decent. A little too bloody for my liking but when I get into more episodes, I will give you a better opinion of it :)**_

_**EmbersofImagination: I'm glad you thought so! Kei's brother has a special role in this story. Akemi now has two brothers to deal with, but luckily for her, Kei is getting his brother of her back :) I'm pleased to know the grammar is better in this story. Sometimes I do tend to forget myself, but I try to keep in mind all that advice you gave to me. Thanks again :)**_

_**Keikoku Yuki: I love that you love those things :)**_

_**magicalnana: Thanks so much :) Perhaps Mikoto will remember the kiss, perhaps he will not ;) I never really mentioned Mikoto's interest in any other woman, but there is something on it to be mentioned much later on :)**_

_**creativeactive: He could be a protagonist, he could be an antagonist but you will know eventually ;) **_

_**Angelgirl0200: I'm so sorry for the late update! No babies...yet! Please don't jump off a cliff. How will you know what happens next?! I'm happy that you love this story. Thanks for the review :)**_

_**LindyLinn: I had wondered what had happened to you! I thought you were probably busy but I'm so happy that you're reading the sequel. Well, who knows how Mikoto would interact with a drunk Anna? ;)**_

**Thanks again, everyone.**

**Let me know your thoughts on this chapter.**

**Until next time, God bless :)**


	7. Playing House

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

**Chapter 7: Playing House**

If Yata was here, she would have felt less scared.

Or maybe more scared.

It would have depended on whether or not someone else was around to make fun of him.

But no, Yata was not here. He was off somewhere, cozying up with his girlfriend.

Of course Anna wasn't jealous of Emi.

Quite frankly, she was glad that her short comrade (who _used_ to buy her yummy desserts) had found someone who could love him that much to put up with his fanatical skateboarding and obsession with the Red King.

However, being up all night watching horror movies as a way to pass time out of boredom while eating tuna onigiri wasn't really a time when Anna could feel a lot of positivity about her regarding her lonely situation. Meanwhile the rest of her comrades were off elsewhere, doing their own business.

_Well, not everyone is going to come comfort you. You're not a child anymore_, she chided herself.

Anna decided that she would try to convince herself that she was not afraid of the sight before her.

A scary clown holding a bunch of balloons, saying in English, "_They all float. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!_".

Damn that was frightening! It was a subtitled version of the movie 'It' that had been adapted from the novel by Stephen King.

It was currently four in the morning.

Very cold.

Very dark.

With wind howling like a demon outside.

This was _not_ pleasant.

Especially with the television screen displaying a close up version of that awful clown's mouth of pointy, greenish, freakish teeth.

Anna had seen some of this movie before, but had been promptly sent to bed by Izumo when he had caught the other guys letting her watch it.

They had gotten yelled at.

But at that time, it hadn't been as scary.

Yata's cringing in the corner had just seemed like an exaggeration.

"_It's just a stupid clown, Yata-san!" Kamamoto had tried to comfort him._

_The chubby clansman had received a swift kick on his back. _

"_Shut your mouth, fatso! It's not a stupid clown! It's a monster,** a monster** I tell you!"_

"_Pipe down, Chihuahua. Even the littlest one here isn't afraid," Eric stated. It was true for Anna was sitting quite calmly between Mikoto and Tatara as the movie went on. _

_Bando and Shouhei had to grab hold of Yata before he attacked the young man. _

"_What the heck are you guys letting Anna watch?!" Izumo suddenly demanded._

_Everyone looked around to see the bartender standing in the doorway. He immediately marched over, grasped Anna's hand in a firm but gentle hold and drew her away. _

"_Izumo?" she said his name in surprise._

_He patted her head comfortingly as he gave her a sweet smile. "Anna, we all know that you're a little adult and you probably have more bal...I mean you're probably braver than a lot of these guys," then his expression became stone hard cold despite the smile still being on his face as he turned to the group of men, "but that doesn't mean she can't have nightmares," now he returned his attention to her with real gentleness once more, "go on upstairs. It's pretty late anyway."_

_As she was never really one to refute, she nodded and left the room._

Well, it sure had been different back then.

Anna supposed that huge dissimilarities existed between doing things by oneself as opposed to doing them with the people one loved and cared for.

* * *

Mikoto stood by the couch, observing the small girl...no, the _young woman_ who had fallen asleep on the couch. The blankets were drawn up over her shoulders, covering her long legs and the rest of her beautiful body save for that pretty face of hers which was ghostly white, even in the dark.

Mikoto sighed and removed his hands from his pockets. He didn't really know what possessed Anna to watch horror movies all night long, but he couldn't think that she was having pleasant dreams right now.

After all, he wanted to burn that horrifying clown in the television set to ash right now. That was how he had felt the first time he had seen it, and he _still_ felt like that.

Mikoto carefully lifted Anna from couch after wrapping her blankets around her. Her long, long hair spilled over his arms and around her body.

Her cheek lay against his arm trustingly and she snuggled closer to him.

Mikoto sighed and carried her upstairs.

* * *

_She dreamt of the circus. There were clowns and gymnasts and elephants!_

_It was so wild!_

_The audience members had popcorn and endless streams of cotton candy! Anna felt like eating cotton candy now._

_Anna found herself standing in the circus ring._

_The audience suddenly disappeared and she was all alone, save for one clown._

_And he was, much to her terror, Pennywise himself._

_Anna took a step back, but he opened his mouth wide, revealing those ugly teeth. _

"_We all float, Anna. We all float down here," he was telling her._

_Suddenly, he cried out as red flames engulfed his body until he quickly became a pile of ash._

_Another clown stepped over his body. _

_This wasn't some fat clown who ran around in circles doing goofy things to make everyone laugh._

_No, no._

_This was a **manly** clown._

_His body was long and lithe. He wore on blue jeans with a black leather belt around his hips. The only other article of clothing this clown had on was a long sleeved black jacket that was completely opened at the front, revealing a flat stomach that was probably hard as rock as well as a lean chest that women would quiver and sigh at the thought of just running their hands along._

_Oh, this man was athletic indeed. _

_The clown's face was handsome, even under the white make up placed on him. Aside from that and a red ball of a nose, the clown had nothing else on his face._

_But Anna knew exactly who he was._

_Only Mikoto Suoh had such wild red hair that was pushed back._

_The clown's boots thudded as he made his way toward her with his hands shoved in his pockets. He came to a stop directly in front of her._

_And smirked before pulling off the red ball from his nose which he tossed aside carelessly. _

"_Miko-"_

_Her words were cut off as he caught her by her tiny waist with his large, warm hands and pulled her to her tiptoes so that he could lean down and cover her mouth with his._

_Anna froze, taken aback. _

_It was just his lips on hers, but it was a kiss regardless._

_Anna was about to open her mouth, wondering if he would kiss her deeper but-_

* * *

Anna's eyes sprang open abruptly.

She sat up and suppressed a groan.

What was that dream?!

Mikoto...and clowns?

And kissing?

Well, she did have a lot of dreams of him kissing her still.

They were never this vivid though.

Anna frowned when she felt the air around her. It was cold.

Very cold.

Then she realized that she was alone in her own room.

She looked around her and then noticed that she was still wrapped in the blankets from when she had been watching the movie.

Anna blinked twice.

_Mikoto_.

He must have brought her up here.

Anna gathered the sheets around her and quietly made her way to her bedroom window. She drew back the red curtains a little and saw that although it was day, one could hardly notice with the huge clouds of dusty snow blowing up through streets. It was so thick, that one could hardly see anything out there.

It made Anna a little concerned about just how badly Seneca might have been hit.

* * *

Akemi opened her eyes to see Kei sleeping beside her on his futon.

It seemed that he had thought it rather ungentleman-like to let a young woman sleep on the floor, while he had the bed.

Despite his sadistic ways, Kei could be quite chivalrous toward her.

She gave a soft smile as she watched him nap.

His face was so smooth looking, with an almost feminine quality. His anemia had prevented him from engaging in any activities that built up a lot of body muscle. Despite this, whenever he embraced her (with sadistic tendencies or not), he did have a very masculine air about him.

Akemi wanted to reach out and touch his face and to her surprise, she saw her hand actually reach out.

She blinked and quickly drew back.

She realized then that Kei had removed the zipper from around her neck so that her arms could move and she could easily free herself.

The girl sighed in relief as she quietly eased herself out.

At the same time, her phone began to ring from her coat that was resting on the nearby couch. Akemi hurried over to answer it.

It was Anna. She was probably calling to find out if they were alright.

"Anna," she whispered with a happy smile on her face.

"Are you alright?" the girl with silvery white hair asked.

Akemi nodded. "Just fine. I slept like a baby. Kei's still asleep-" Akemi stopped talking when she felt two arms slide around her waist. She was drawn against that same lean body she had thought to be very male not too long ago.

Kei's cheek brushed against her temple.

"We slept together last night, didn't we, sweet Akemi?" he asked her moved to kiss her temple.

In response, Akemi shoved him away, blushing madly. Kei was definitely aware that he had made it sound like they had had sex last night."Stay away, pervert!"

"But we slept through the blizzard, didn't we, Akemi?" he pointed out.

"Be thankful that your anemia is bothering you, otherwise I would have kicked your ass already!" Akemi snarled.

Kei leaned over and grabbed her around the waist with one arm, pulling her right up against him. The girl's expression was utterly terrified and bewildered. "W-What are you doing?" she demanded.

He smiled beautifully at her. "You wouldn't do that, would you, Akemi-chan?"

Akemi's became more horrified.

She was alone in this apartment with this guy, snowed in with him! Who knew what he would do to her?!

He _had_ locked her in a sleeping bag last night, hadn't he?

She turned her attention to Anna.

"We slept together!" she admitted to Anna as she pushed Kei away. "but he was in his own futon. And he trapped me in a sleeping bag, Anna! A sleeping bag!"

"I see."

Akemi nodded as she covered her eyes with one arm and bawled. "It was horrifying! I will probably have nightmares!"

"Oh stop that! You liked it and you know it!" Kei growled.

Akemi ignored him and continued, "I thought he was my friend!"

"It's because I was your friend that I didn't let you go!"

"He trapped me here, Anna! _Trapped_ me!"

"You're faking your crying!"

Akemi turned to him with tearless eyes, "I'm not!"

Then she returned to Anna, paused and realized that she had given herself away.

Kei started to laugh at her then.

Akemi cursed under her breath and walked to the wide window at the back of the room. "I don't know how many inches of snow we got, but I think the Natsume family would already have snowblowers and other heavy duty vehicles around to clear the streets."

She drew back the curtains and looked outside.

She returned her attention to her friend who was waiting patiently for her to speak through the PDA.

"We live in the land of cotton, Anna," she informed her in a grave voice.

Kei hurried to her side and his mouth gaped open.

Indeed, the snow was piled at least five feet and a couple inches.

"Has the blizzard come to Shizume City yet?" Kei asked as he leaned in next to Akemi to see Anna.

* * *

"Yes. We're expecting up to four feet," Anna responded to her friend's question as she looked outside. Her room was growing terribly colder. She needed to sleep, but she knew she wouldn't be able to.

"Will you be alright? You're with your family, aren't you?" Kei queried.

Anna nodded.

Well, that was somewhat true-she was with just one person was here though.

Everyone else was gone.

Anna figured she should get off the PDA now and get some more warmth. She was starting to tremble.

"I'm going now. Let's talk later," she told the pair.

They nodded and after giving customary goodbyes, they hung up.

Anna placed her communication device on her desk. The desk hadn't changed over the years. It was the same little one Izumo had made for her when she had first come to stay at Homra.

Anna sighed, and with her feet devoid of any slippers of the sort, she trudged to her bedroom door and opened it, knowing that the only warm place would be beside Mikoto.

* * *

Mikoto was in caterpillar mode.

Anna had seen him this way before.

He had wrapped his large body up into a roll with his white blankets so that only his red head stuck out at the top. He only did this when the weather was very cold.

And for Mikoto, the great Red King whose power originated with fire, to act that way meant that it really was freezing.

Anna hesitated until she felt the cold air nip at her ankles.

She had to move for her own sake.

As she came to stand beside the bed, she heard a low growl. She had come to learn over time that was simply a deep rumbling snore from Mikoto.

It meant that he was sleeping very deeply.

Anna didn't really want to disturb him.

However, she needed Mikoto right now, and perhaps just lying beside him would be enough.

She quietly climbed into the empty spot beside him on the bed and lay down.

Immediately, she felt a change in temperature and already she caught the familiar male scent of the bed that had come from Mikoto's body with his constant sleeping on it.

She made a soft sigh and settled beside him.

She did not touch him.

She did not call out to him.

She simply gazed at his red back, which, through the white sheets, she could see was a beautiful red.

* * *

Mikoto grunted softly and opened his eyes. He immediately sensed someone familiar behind him. He slowly undid the roll he had pulled himself into and turned to lie flat on his back. There was Anna lying on her side beside him in this darkened room.

Both her hands were pressed under one cheek like a pillow while her beautiful hair spilled in long waves everywhere.

Mikoto couldn't deny that there were times that he just wanted to wrap his arms into that long silken mass.

He let out a quiet sigh and reached out to touch one strand on the side of her head. Idly, he played with that lock of hair. Her hair had always been soft like a baby's and it hadn't changed.

Revealed to him was that sweet spot above her ear where he used to love to indulge himself.

Like a lion, he used to nuzzle her there and drown them both in affection.

It really wasn't possible to always be like that anymore, not with the both of them fighting sexual feelings for each other.

Mikoto pulled back her blankets a bit roughly and slid his arm around her waist. He pulled her close to him, causing her to stir.

"Mikoto?" she murmured.

Her face was buried in his hard chest.

In response, he lowered his head to her temple and nuzzled her slightly.

"Go back to sleep," he ordered.

Anna let out a soft sigh and nodded. She was quite content to obey him as it was so warm in his strong arms. She knew she was safe here, away from that raging blizzard...and any scary clowns.

As for Mikoto, he decided that it was alright for now for them to cuddle a bit.

The weather did call for a bit of snuggling, didn't it?

* * *

Anna had gently pushed Mikoto's arms away when she had awakened in order to get out of bed. She hadn't really wanted to but she had already spent an entire hour awake, indulging in his warmth. It was so lovely to be encased in the arms of that large, hard, warm body of his while having thick sheets covered on them. It was so safe there, in those long, strong arms of his.

So comfortable she had been that she had actually basked in the heat of his body for another hour while awake.

By that time, it was already in the afternoon and the blizzard had finished.

Thankfully, there had been no power outages so they were just fine-except they were snowed in and wouldn't be able to walk the streets until they were cleared.

The problem was, was that Mikoto was sleeping like the dead while Anna was unexpectedly energized.

* * *

Anna showered and dressed in a plain, thick red dress. It had long, simple sleeves and full buttons in front. The skirt wasn't long as it reached her just above her knees.

She went downstairs and made sure to turn up the thermostat before having cereal for breakfast.

After eating, the problem remained on what to occupy herself with.

* * *

"Mikoto, do you need any laundry done?" Anna questioned Mikoto.

She was sitting at his side on the bed. At her feet was a red basket with her own clothing that required washing.

Mikoto, lying on his stomach on the bed with the blankets covering from the heels of his feet to most of the top of his head, moved one strong arm from under the blanket and pointed, without looking, to another basket in a far corner of his room.

She nodded and got up to get the basket. She shook the clothes from it with her own before returning his basket to where it had originally been.

Then, she quietly left the room.

When she was younger, Tatara used to come in and wash her clothes for her. After he had died, Kamamoto used to help her and shortly thereafter, she went to the Natsume's.

Yuki Natsume had had no servants around to take care of her family's laundry. She washed her and her husband's clothing while she ensured that her son, Ryosuke did his own. She claimed that she had teach him to do so in the event that they lost all their money and he remained unmarried. That way he would actually know a thing or two about really looking after himself.

They only had a cook and that was because Yuki Natsume's food wasn't fit for dogs.

Anna herself had had a bad experience with it.

Despite the older woman's lack of culinary talent, Anna how to take care of her own laundry. She used to wash her clothes everyday after school, hang them out to dry and then iron them if they had any wrinkles before setting them aside.

The principal of her Middle School had taught her well, and these were habits she still maintained.

Dryers were not really common in Japan because everyone tended to wash their clothing everyday. Washing machines were therefore also small because not a lot of clothes would go in to wash because the washload would be significantly smaller with laundry being done everyday.

Homra was an exception.

That was because Mikoto was too lazy to actually do his own laundry everyday. On days when he wasn't locking himself up, he was probably too bored and would only get around to it if Izumo yelled at him.

Anna recalled that at one point in time, Tatara was washing the clothes of their King.

At those times, Mikoto wasn't deliberately being lazy. Those were the days when he would be fighting that battle inside of him to fight to control his power even while slowly destroying himself inside.

Izumo had ensured that a large washing machine and a dryer was installed in the basement for Mikoto's convenience in case he really did get around to actually washing his clothes.

In later years, Anna had started taking care of her laundry and his when she came back to Homra. It therefore was not unusual for her to wash their clothes and then stuff them in the dryer.

Anna did have a preference for hanging her clothing out as opposed to a dryer. She found that her clothing felt more refreshing. As she opened the door to the very cold basement, she tried to think of a sunny spot to hang them out.

* * *

The basement was _freezing_.

She could feel the horrible chill in the air when she went down there.

Well, she was going in anyway.

Without stockings, and simply a pair of sandals on her feet, Anna went down the stairs and into the basement where she searched around for a light-switch. Finding it, light flooded the basement, revealing stacks and crates of wines, beers and different sorts of alcoholic beverages that were meant for the bar.

Anna trudged through them to come to a small room where the washer and dryer were. She placed the clothing in and then added the soap and water. She switched it on and hurried upstairs.

* * *

Anna proceeded to cut up some vegetables, chicken and tofu for a nice warm bowl of chicken soup. She was feeling so energetic that she even considered making omurice later.

However, she figured that maybe she should try to calm herself and take it easy. It wasn't unusual around the time of her cycle for her to have these strange bursts of energy.

It hormones.

Weird hormones that could make her either lethargic or energetic.

Anna returned downstairs a short time later. The clothes had finished being washed. She decided that she would place them in the dryer and leave them long enough to remove the excess water from them so that they would not drip.

She already knew a place where she could hang them. The blizzard had finished and it was undeniably cold so she would have to hang them close to a closed window where the sunlight came in. More than likely, nothing would be properly dried by tomorrow.

She didn't mind too much-after all, she preferred that her clothes finished drying by being hung out anyway.

"What are you doing?" Mikoto's voice demanded behind her.

Anna was a little startled.

She had become so focused on wondering where to hang up the clothes that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings.

She turned around to see Mikoto standing in the doorway of the little room. He had clearly showered for she could catch the scent of soap from where she was standing.

He was also wearing on his regular clothing of his white shirt and blue jeans. However, he hadn't put on his necklaces, metal bands or rings quite yet.

"Ah Mikoto."

"It's freezing," he continued as he came inside.

Such a small room seemed to not be enough for Mikoto's suffocating presence. Anna drew back a little as he came closer to her. He had a damp air about him that had obviously come from his shower. Even some of the tips of his hair still needed a bit of drying.

In a rather brooding manner, he leaned over her and placed one of hands beside her on top of the dryer.

"It's cold, Anna. Go upstairs," he ordered in a very serious way.

Anna lowered her eyes. Her cheeks were slightly reddened at his nearness. She didn't know why she was suddenly feeling shy around him.

"I will," she promised.

Mikoto let out a quiet huff and moved back.

Suddenly, the dryer made a loud beep, indicating that the drying had reached the time limit she had set.

"I just need to get this," Anna told him as she turned around and opened the door of the dryer. She pulled out their clothes and put them in the basket as he watched on.

When she moved to pick up the basket, he took it away from her. She glanced up at him, surprised.

"Mikoto?"

"Get going," he ordered once more.

Anna nodded as she felt her face soften a bit at his helpfulness.

He followed closely behind her as they left the basement.

Anna took the basket from him.

"What are you going to do now? There's some stuff you left out in the kitchen," Mikoto reminded her. He must have seen it when he went to get something to eat.

"I have to take care of this and then I'll come back and finish cutting up the vegetables. I'm making soup for us," her mouth drew in a straight line, as if she was frowning. "unless Mikoto wants to eat it now?"

Mikoto let out a weary sigh. "I'll take care of the food. Go upstairs."

Anna nodded and hurried away.

* * *

Mikoto had finished slicing up a daikon radish before he decided to go see what Anna was doing now. She was in one of _those_ moods again where she got around to doing all sorts of things, wearing herself out and forgetting to do simple things like eating.

He went to the second floor of the building and he scowled at what he saw.

There she was again, at the end of the hall, close to the large window there. Above her head was a long pipe that was connected to the rest of pipes that ran throughout the bar. This one was very close to the ceiling.

And there was Anna, standing on a chair, using a wide assortment of clothing hangers some with clips and some without, some circular and round to put up their clothing to dry.

It seemed that she had reached the last article of clothing which was a black shirt of his.

Mikoto quietly went up behind her.

As soon as she hooked the hanger on the pipe between another one of his white shirts and one of her dresses, he caught her by the back of her dress and pulled her off the chair, making her gasp softly.

He set her on her feet and pressed a hand on his hip and he narrowed his eyes on her.

She returned a wide eyed look. "Mikoto?"

"Why don't you go eat?" he asked her.

"I ate already," she replied.

Mikoto let her go and turned away. "Then stop bothering about the clothes. Take a nap or watch another horror movie."

Ah, so it really was him who had removed her from the couch and placed her in her own bed.

"Did you put the soup on yet?"

"No," he replied with a sigh. He shot her a glare over his shoulder. "I'll do it."

Anna, with her hands clasped in front of her, nodded in a rather innocent manner. If she was still a little girl, he would have almost thought it cute.

Now she looked too damned elegantly beautiful and it grated his nerves of how aware he was of her right now.

"Why is Mikoto angry?" she questioned.

"I'm not angry," he denied and almost cursed himself. He sounded just like her whenever she did not want to admit to something that she felt would embarrass her.

He let out a sigh and tried to gather his wits.

Then, he walked past her and to the clothing. He released some of his power, increasing the heat around the clothing enough to dry them out.

Once that was done, Anna went back to the chair. Mikoto grabbed her by the back of her dress again.

"What are you doing now?"

"I have to pick them up and press them to get rid of the wrinkles. Then I have to fold them," she answered.

Mikoto huffed. "I'll get the clothes for you. Do something about the soup."

* * *

A short time later, Anna found that Mikoto had already taken the clothes down. She found him in a small room which Izumo had converted into the storage room after Anna had come to occupy the old one. Extra blankets, towels or things the other clansmen might have kept lying around was kept inside there, as well as the ironing board.

Mikoto had just pulled out the ironing board for her.

He glanced up when he saw her.

"Everything is boiling right now," she told him.

He nodded.

She got the iron and plugged it in.

Japanese ironing boards tended to be only a couple centimeters from the ground. Anna therefore had to kneel in order to use it.

"You're planning to fold them too, aren't you?" Mikoto asked.

She nodded in response.

She heard him mutter something like, _'Typical Japanese woman'_ under his breath but he still sat down beside and folded his legs underneath him.

She looked at him as he searched around for his pack of cigarettes that was in his pocket.

"Mikoto?"

"I'll fold," he explained and placed one cigarette in his mouth. He didn't light it as he knew the ash would probably fall on the clean clothes.

Anna turned her attention to the clothes that were in the basket again. Mikoto really was worried about her. She supposed that it was because he had come to well know how she behaved during her cycle.

She had enormous appetites, could be a prickly cactus and tended to sleep all day long.

Or on rare occasions such as these, she could just be plain restless-she would have a strong desire to just have something to do to keep herself occupied.

He would probably also feel a bit guilty for leaving her to do a lot of things for the both of them at a time when she usually should probably be resting.

Anna began her ironing with a white shirt.

Mikoto observed her.

"Isn't that a problem for you?" he asked her.

He was referring to the color of the shirt as it was white and it could be a problem for her due to her colorblindness.

She shook her head. "The cover for the board is red so I can see the white of the shirt against it," she answered.

"I see."

When she finished that shirt, he folded it and in silence, they continued.

Mikoto suddenly stood up. Anna knew why; he was going to check on the soup. Meanwhile, she finished ironing one of her dresses and folded it herself while she moved to one of Mikoto's white t-shirts.

When the owner of that t-shirt returned, Anna lifted it up. "Mikoto, it's torn a little here," she informed him.

To the side, where the stitching was, a very visible tear lurked.

Mikoto shrugged as he sat beside her again. "Doesn't matter," he. Anna set it aside.

"I'll mend it for you later."

He didn't even try to stop her. She was in that restless mood again.

They were onto their underwear now.

Mikoto wasn't a pervert, but he wasn't blind either.

Anna had a wide assortment of black and red bras. There were some purple ones in there as well. Anna had to choose colors which she could actually decipher as much as possible. However, from what Mikoto had noticed, she tended to prefer red, lacy bras for there were several of them.

The same went for her panties too.

He hadn't intentionally meant to look at them, but he _had_ just picked up their clothing from the hangers. Anna didn't really mind because they had lived together long enough to get past certain things.

Anna gave him his underwear first. They were mostly black briefs. He did not feel embarrassed or odd in any kind of way about her handling these items.

After Anna gave them to him, he thanked her quietly and took his clothes and carried them out of the room while she gathered her own.

* * *

The soup had tasted good. Mikoto had added the right amount of salt and seasonings to the food. He did know how to cook, but he found it too troublesome to actually get up and do it. He and Anna had quietly eaten at the bar.

Izumo had also called and was quite relieved to learn that they were both alright. He had also been stunned to know that Mikoto had helped her make chicken soup.

"You guys are playing house today! That's so cute," he remarked.

It sounded more like something Tatara would say and Anna wondered if that was the real reason that Mikoto was prompted to say, "Shut up," to their comrade.

* * *

Outside, the snow was still piled high up to approximately four feet.

But it was alright.

It was warm where Anna sat.

She was sitting beside Mikoto on the couch in the bar. He was quietly smoking a cigarette while she used a needle and thread to mend his shirt.

Mikoto said nothing to her, but she really didn't realize that using red thread on a white shirt could look rather strange if the red thread happened to show up.

He supposed that she was just doing what she could to help and this was just her way of getting past her color blindness. Mikoto could always save the shirt for sleeping anyway.

"I wonder what everyone is doing right now," Anna murmured, almost to herself as she carefully concentrated on the shirt. She did not have a red background to help her see the shirt better as she had had with the ironing board's cover. However, her dress was red and the background of the bar was dark so it made things a little easier as long as she took her time with the mending.

Mikoto shrugged at her words. He really didn't know what the rest of his clansmen were up to.

Right now, he was feeling sleepy. He didn't really want to go to sleep until he sent this brat upstairs in hopes that she would remain there. Knowing her, she would get up and do something afterward.

Under normal circumstances, Mikoto could leave her to do whatever she wanted.

However, they were snowed in and it could be a real inconvenience to melt tons of snow in the event that something happened to her and he had to rush her to a hospital or to a doctor.

Mikoto snorted quietly and shifted, lowering his body so that as he moved to lie down, he lay on his side with his head on Anna's lap, facing away from her.

His movements had startled her.

"Mikoto?"

He didn't say anything but he knew that she was not done mending his shirt.

"Stay right here," he said to her as he buried his cheek more comfortably into the material of her soft red dress. He noted that her legs were strong, but even through her dress he could tell that they held the suppleness a young woman's should have.

Anna smiled softly as she drew the shirt a little to the side, over Mikoto's chest, closer to his neck that it wouldn't tickle the his face and disturb him.

"I'm making omurice when I'm done here," she let him know.

She whimpered when Mikoto's hand lifted and deliberately pinched her cheek hard.

"Can't you stay put, you brat?" he demanded as he let of her flesh and slid his hand under her chin with his thumb and forefinger gently gripping it.

Mikoto was now lying flat on his back with an arm curved behind his head as it lay on Anna's lap.

Anna looked down at Mikoto's handsome face. He was now lying on his back.

With calm, serious eyes, she informed him, "I am not eating frozen dinner tonight,"

Mikoto sighed and shifted his hand so that he could lightly stroke the red mark he had caused to her pale skin.

"Is that so?"

"Yes," she answered in a rather curt manner.

Mikoto lowered his hand. He placed it on his stomach and figured that he shouldn't argue with her on this. He wouldn't admit it, but he had feeling that Anna would switch from happily energetic to scary and moody if he tried to dissuade her from her goal of putting together a real, non-frozen dinner.

He decided instead, to listen as Anna continued speaking. "Maybe it's good practice for when I get married."

"You want to get married?" Mikoto questioned with slightly raised eyebrows.

"I don't know," she replied with honesty. "I suppose it would depend on the person who would be my husband."

"It's normal in Japanese culture for a woman to stop working once she's married, and especially after she has had a child. Do you want to do that?"

Mikoto recalled the time when he could never think about Anna getting married and leaving his side. Such thoughts hadn't sat well with him at all back then.

He still didn't find them comfortable.

"My duties to my family would come first, but I know that my power as a strain is useful. To set it aside would be a waste," she responded after a small pause.

"I see."

"What does Mikoto think?"

Mikoto gazed up at her with dark golden eyes. In a rather nonchalant manner, he answered, "You should do what you want,"

"Mikoto?" Anna's voice cut into his thoughts. Mikoto had been planning to take a little nap right here on her lap and closed his eyes in order to do so.

"Hm?"

"Haven't you ever wanted to get married?"

"No."

Somehow Anna wasn't surprised. Mikoto had spent too much time fighting with himself because of his power to consider it in the past. Her most precious person's breathing was already evening out as he became more relaxed. Still, she couldn't help but bother him again.

"Even before you became our King?"

"Not really."

Anna was about to say something else, but she misjudged her stitching when she had stabbed the needle into the shirt and it ended up sticking it into her index finger.

She inhaled sharply and Mikoto immediately opened his eyes.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Needle," she answered. He understood-she didn't need to explain more.

He reached for his t-shirt to press against her skin and stop the tiny stream of blood but she shook her head.

"We washed it today," she protested.

Mikoto let out a frustrated breath and caught her small, slender hand in his larger one. Calmly, he brought her fingers to his mouth and his tongue shot out, gently laving the tip of her finger, cleaning away the red fluid.

Anna's cheeks became rosy red-as red as her blood, as she watched the movement of his hot appendage as it dragged across her skin in such a slow, delicate manner.

"Mikoto," she whispered his name as he continued his gentle administrations. He looked at her through half lidded eyes and Anna recalled that morning, back in Seneca, when he was fourteen and she was thirteen. That time she had brushed away milk from his upper lip and he caught her hand and decided to flick it away from her finger using his tongue.

At that time, the atmosphere had been soft, and sweet.

Then, recently, when he had eaten the strawberries from her hand, it hadn't had that same sweetness. No; there was thick sensuality involved.

Right now, it felt similar to that time with the strawberries. The sweetness of the young teenagers was gone and was now replaced by a more adult feeling.

Anna was so shocked at the way her thinking was turning that she was about to snatch her hand back, but Mikoto kept it in a firm grip, continuing to gently bathe her tiny wound with that delicate appendage of his.

Anna swallowed hard, wondering if it was just herself and her own wishful thinking that made her hope that Mikoto felt the same way that she did.

She also had the common sense to, unfortunately realize that if he really _did_ have sexual feelings for her (as Akemi had recently suggested), he would either give into them and take her for himself...or he would fight those feelings as if he was fighting the devil himself.

Anna knew that more than likely, it was the latter rather than the former.

She was no seductress, so she didn't think she could enchant him into giving in.

Also, because she was so uncertain, so _doubtful_ of Mikoto's actual feelings-especially with the way he so easily pushed her away sometimes as of recently-she knew she could not try to do anything so crazy.

That was because if she was wrong, she would just end up ruining everything between them. Mikoto would probably be disgusted with her, and she would be too embarrassed to ever face him again.

At least that was what her young heart believed.

_If only Tatara was alive, I could have asked him_, Anna thought wistfully.

"What are you think about?" Mikoto asked quietly from her lap. He sensed that her mood had become a bit dismal.

Anna looked down at him.

He still held her wrist captive, but he had finished his gentle assault on her finger. Anna used that same finger to lightly trace the plump flesh of his lips in a very slow manner.

Mikoto's handsome face hadn't aged over the years. There was no wrinkle on his smooth skin and nor a gray hair in that wild red mass of his.

In fact, no one at Homra looked very differently despite it being so long that they were together. Perhaps the power of the Red King enabled them to keep some of their youthful appearances.

Except in Anna's case. She had grown like a weed after reaching a certain age. It was only recently those growth spurts seemed to have stopped.

"Mikoto...do you still wonder what it would be like...if Tatara was still alive?"

Indeed, would Totsuka Tatara have also been like the rest of them, and not have aged very much, if at all? What would he have been doing right now? Would he have been sleeping on the couch opposite theirs or would he have been elsewhere like the rest of the clan?

Mikoto gave her a calm, easy look before he carefully set her hand aside so that he could sit up. His response to her question was a brief kiss on her cheek and a quiet, "Sometimes. But I think he would have preferred that we learned to live on without him."

Those were the words he left in her wake as he got up and walked away.

Anna's arms went around herself.

The cold had started to attack her again, now that Mikoto's warmth was not at her side to protect her.

* * *

**A/N: The 'letter' I mentioned in the last A/N was really just to let you know that Izumo and Mikoto are up to something. You will understand later on, but just know that for now, Izumo in particular is up to something.**

**Seeing 'It' when I was about 4 years old made me afraid of clowns. The clown's name is 'Pennywise' and as mentioned in the story, it comes from the Stephen King novel, 'It'. **

**The chapters related to GP are:**

***Chapter 43 for Mikoto's 'caterpillar mode'**

****Chapter 16 for Yuki Natsume's awful cooking skills.**

*****Chapter 42 for Mikoto's milk mustache.**

******Chapter 25 for Anna and Mikoto's admitting to wondering what it would have been like if Tatara was still alive. **

**Thank you, all of you who review, follow and favorite this story. **

**For those who reviewed:**

_**Angelgirl0200: You're welcome! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!**_

_**princessforeveralone: Yes, it's supposed to be the continuation of the season. Lol, hope you had an awesome breakfast :)**_

_**nannerlovessnickers: See the A/N above. But you'll know in about two chapters or so :)**_

_**magicalnana: You will find out the significance of the letter a bit later on. You were on them getting trapped as they are both snowed in. Hope you enjoyed the fluff in this chapter :) A lot of people have asked even from the prequel if Kei's brother was Tatara, but the answer was always 'no'. Sorry if that disappointed you, but I hope you liked this chapter nonetheless :)**_

_**creativeactive: I'm not sure how long the story is be to consider whether or not it is another 'arc' but the 'letter' has some significance to the plot. It isn't something really 'grand' but it is important. **_

_**Indochine: That's great that exams have finished for you! I've heard about the release of the film. What I'm concerned about is how long will it take for those of us who live outside of Japan to see it, and how long will it take for it to get subbed? Hope this chapter added to the enjoyment of your vacation:)**_

_**AndieVC: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! You'll understand the 'letter' later on ;)**_

_**Arius the Heretic: Well, you know that Kei loves being sadistic toward Akemi :) I'll get to the brother's role eventually :)**_

_**WithLoveAlways: I'm really pleased that you liked those parts of those stories, particularly the funny parts. Yes, another bounty hunting! I think that Akemi is so accustomed to Kei's sadistic ways that when she doesn't loose her temper with him, she runs away in fear when she can ;) Kei also knows this so he can probably be even more cruel because of that ;) JJ will have some more screen time as the story goes along. Yes, it is a bit difficult for her and she is only sixteen :/ I only recently read a few chapters of Watashi ni xx shinasai. The character you are speaking off is the brother of the lead male right? I don't think Kei's sadistic ways are as bad as his because Akemi can still tolerate his presence. However, I can still see that they are similar in some aspects :) My A/N at the bottom of Chapter 4 of this story explained a bit on my decision concerning Seri so you can go ahead and check it out there :)**_

_**xNightDreamerx: I haven't eaten ribs in ages :/ Thank you for making my stomach growl :'( Just kidding XD. Maybe their home alone today could be considered a date? **_

_**Guest: Hi there! I explained in the A/N at the end of Chapter 4 about Seri so you can check it out there (I don't want to explain the same thing twice). If you want, you can imagine that the woman Izumo might have been holing himself up with for the blizzard was Seri :)**_

_**Keikoku Yuki: I used to be a daily updater...but I don't think I'm capable of that again :/ I'm still glad that you think my updates are quick and you're satisfied with that :) I gave a little more Kei and Akemi here! Hope you enjoyed it! I explained about Seri to the end of Chapter 4 in the A/N so you can check out what I wrote on my decision for her there. I'm a big fan of Anna and Mikoto. I guess they're like my OTP. I haven't really gotten into Seri/Izumo a lot to consider them another OTP but I do like them together :)**_

_**EmbersofImagination: I try to keep the chapters coming :) I'll double check the document from the last chapter and edit it. Thanks for pointing that out to me :) Maybe the new criminal and Kei's brother have a connection, or maybe I just introduced Kei's brother because I felt that it was about time that I did ;) Either way, you will know...eventually ;) Truthfully, Akemi and Kei's interaction is actually meant to be a combination of both sweet and strange. I like Izumo a lot too. You'll see more of their interaction eventually as well, especially because he is her legal guardian (in the context of this story). PB&J is eaten in Japan as a result of Western impact, but it isn't something that's very widespread (I've actually read that some hate it, but I don't know how true that is). It's not really something significant and you can just picture that Anna has a preference for it. I actually do take the cultural and social factors of Japan into a lot of consideration in this story (such as when I've mentioned before the marriageable age, the drinking age, and the age to get a motorcycle license, as well as Yata's mention of 'breast massage' from the chapter when Chitose's son was born). The only time I specifically don't include Japanese norms is in terms of music because I just don't know many Japanese artistes.**_

_**LindyLinn: You'll find out more on the letter later on :) I think you did read the ending wrong. The one Akemi likes, and has liked for a long time is Kei. It was mentioned a couple of times in the sequel :) **_

_**Flower 117: Your computer crashed? I'm so sorry to hear that! But I suppose everything must be alright now because you are able to review :) I'm glad you liked those parts (especially the kiss). I used to really be obsessed with Naruto...but I've been following on it for a couple of years and over time my like for it just gradually died down. I do still skim through the latest chapter to know what's going on and it's good. If I used to still like it as when I had first started watching it, I would have been really excited. I'm also pleased that Kishimoto isn't making Sakura such a weakling anymore. Sasuke and Sakura used to be my OTP...now I've developed a strange liking for Itachi/Sakura instead o.O Anyway, you didn't really ask about what pairings I liked but my overall take on the recent chapters and it is that they're good and they're exciting. I'm also pleased to see Team 7 together again and I hope Kakashi makes an appearance soon. I just hope that Kishimoto keeps up the excitement :) The one thing I hated was what happened to Neji. I LOATHED THAT. What do you think?**_

**Thanks again everyone and let me know what you think about this chapter. **

**Until next time, God bless :) **


	8. A New Year

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: **Check out the tumblr of chilly-territory for the english translation of a few more short stories from Gora (a big thank you to this person for his/her hard work of translating for us)._**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

**Chapter 8: A New Year**

The wooden door cracked open just slightly.

Three pairs of eyes, each pair above the other, peered into the room.

They blinked at the same time.

"What are you three doing?" Izumo demanded behind the three people, making them stiffen in shock.

Yata was the one stooping at the bottom. Eric was leaning over him while Kamamoto stood up tall to look inside.

The three clansmen quickly drew back and shut the door quietly.

"We were just wondering where Anna and Mikoto-san were!" Yata answered.

Izumo sighed wearily. "I need your help downstairs to prepare for our New Years' celebration tonight."

The three nodded quickly and hurried away. Izumo rolled his eyes when he heard Eric call Yata 'Chihuahua', causing the short fellow to retaliate by saying something harsh.

Really, somethings just never changed in the clan.

Izumo turned to the door they had opened just now. It led to Mikoto's room. Wondering what had fascinated the trio, he decided to see for himself.

Just quietly as they had, he pushed the door ever so slightly to peek inside.

And he smiled at the sight.

There was Mikoto lying flat on his back and snuggled to his side on this very chilly morning was Anna. Her pretty head lay on his chest as Mikoto's long arm curved around her shoulders, ensuring that she was held tightly against him.

Mikoto's thick white blanket was thrown haphazardly around them and their feet were peeking out from the bottom.

Izumo was quite sure that if he was to remove that blanket, it would reveal Anna's long legs which would be half lying on top of Mikoto's strong ones.

The fierce Red King's eyebrows furrowed when the door shifted a little and squeaked. He let out a soft growl for the disturbance in his sleep. Izumo observed the way he proceeded to pressed his nose into Anna's hair and unconsciously give it a little nuzzle.

In response, her bare little toes curled and she released a soft sigh before the two people went back to sleep.

Indeed, the pair did make quite an attractive couple.

Izumo knew that they were probably cuddled together for the sake of keeping warm, but a part of him did secretly hope that it was for a reason more serious than that.

Izumo shut the door quietly.

He had a lot of things to do today.

* * *

_Burn it._

_Turn it to ashes._

_The incineration of the bane of Mikoto's existence would truly bring a rush of pleasure to the Great Red King._

_But what stopped him from destroying the thing that gazed him with wide dark eyes?_

_Anna._

_Anna stopped him._

_Because it was because of Mikoto himself that the blasted thing existed in their lives._

_That ugly, **hideous** thing that Mikoto would gladly throw in front of a passing vehicle._

_It was Lion-O who was looking at Mikoto._

_Yes, **looking** at him._

_The non-living creature was cuddled warmly in Anna's arms as she lay huddled on the couch. Her thick blankets were wrapped tightly around her body, cocooning her. _

_However, the little plushie's head was sticking out from just under Anna's chin so that while her face was turned in the direction of the television, the disgusting thing's own expression remained on the King._

_In truth, Mikoto started thinking that his hatred for the plushie was really out of habit...not really because he still despised it. _

_It was kind of cute...right?_

_Mikoto snorted at his thoughts, drawing Anna's attention._

_She blinked her large eyes at him. "Mikoto?"_

_He walked over to her, and reached down to grab her by the back of her nightshirt. "Bedtime," he stated and snatched the remote from her hand. He switched off the television._

"_But I don't want to sleep, Mikoto," she protested. _

_However, he ignored her and very much in a cave-man like manner, he threw her over his shoulder. Anna didn't really struggle for she was accustomed to Mikoto's often unorthodox methods of handling her despite her being a female. _

_To her surprise, he took her to his room where he immediately caught her by the waist and with as much ease as he had had when she was a child, he lifted her from off his strong shoulder and set her down on the bed._

_Then, he shoved her by the shoulders, making her gasp as she fell flat on the bed. Anna turned her head to look up at the dark brooding King but he was leaning over her with one knee pressing hard into the bed, right beside her hip. _

_He grabbed her upper arms in his large hands and kept her held still as he began to roughly nuzzle her right above her ear._

_Anna let out only a token of protest because she loved the feel of his nose rubbing into her hair while she remained surrounded by his warmth and scent. She also loved the touch of those two strands of his red hair that fell forward when they gently tickled her cheeks with his movements. As always, waves of sleepiness swept over her as she gripped onto Mikoto's sleeping shirt tightly. She sighed softly when she felt him draw back a little to kiss her cheek quietly. _

_It was so comfortable here with this man._

_This strong, handsome man whose heart she would give anything to own._

_A short time later, Anna was curled up in Mikoto's arms as he lay on his back, holding her to him. Her cheek lay on his chest and her breathing was soft and even._

_Mikoto let out a heavy sigh. _

_He would never admit it but the real reason as to why he had forced her to sleep was because he was jealous of how much cuddling that ugly thing (it was really cute but Mikoto's wasn't admitting it) got from Anna. _

_And now the stupid thing was all alone in the cold on the couch downstairs._

_Mikoto's heart softened a little. He started to feel a little pity for the thing._

_But then he remembered that it wasn't alive and he didn't give a damn about it anymore._

* * *

"Fujishima-san, you're very brave to bring your pet here," Shouhei Akagi commented to his comrade.

The often stoic young man had the rabbit comfortably clasped in one hand.

"Anna had asked Kamamoto-san to leave her alone," Fujishima explained. Kamamoto wouldn't and couldn't refuse the request of their clan's princess.

"You adopted it, didn't you? Why are you bringing it back here?" Izumo demanded from behind the counter.

"I'm celebrating the new year with your guys. Fluffy would have been lonely in the apartment," the animal lover replied.

"'Fluffy'? That's a boring name," Yata commented as he came to touch the cute white rabbit. Fluffy was busy nibbling the pellets from Fujishima's hand that was not holding her. As soon as Yata reached out with a finger to stroke her head, she nipped it, making him yell out in pain.

"What kind of beast are you taking care of, Fujishima?!" Yata cried as he cradled his wounded finger in his hand.

"Fluffy has trust issues," Fujishima responded in a grim manner before he gently stroked his little pet.

"Trust issues my _ass_!"

"Animals just don't like the barking Chihuahua," Eric remarked. He was sitting on the couch in the bar with his normal vexed expression that looked like a wild dog's as he munched on a plate of onigiri.

Yata was about jump at him but Dewa and Bando managed to grab him in time.

"Would you stop fighting?! Yata-chan, you're supposed to make the fish cakes! And you, beast lover, you're supposed to be making the kombu rolls and not harping over that buck toothed creature!" Izumo snapped.

Everyone quieted and mumbled apologies to the bartender. He sighed and began to relax again as he saw that everyone went back to work, doing their designated chores.

"Izumo, is there something I can help with?" came Anna's voice.

Izumo turned around to see the princess of the clan standing there in a simple, long sleeved red dress. Even in plain clothing, the girl looked beautiful with her very clear skin and long, silky hair.

"Is Mikoto still sleeping?"

She nodded. She had been warmly cuddled in his arms earlier but she had had to remove them for she had to make a phone call to Aoi at a specific time.

"_Anna, I set up the appointment for you to get your motorcycle license. You have to be there at the testing area at nine in the morning on Monday," he informed her. _

As Anna had not learned to ride a motorcycle through any driving schools, she was able to speak to Aoi who was heavily involved in the motorcycling community despite his seclusion in Seneca. He was able to pull some strings and set up an appointment very early for her. She hadn't asked him to do so; he had offered for he had known that she had interest in motorcycles due to her involvement with Homra's members.

She would be doing the test in Shizume City itself. Anna wondered what her clansmen would say if she told them what she was going to do.

Currently, Izumo told her, "If you want anything to do, you can ensure that Kamamoto doesn't eat Fujishima's pet. You may have asked him to leave the rabbit alone, but he's still giving her funny looks."

It was true; Kamamoto had just come up from the basement with a crate of beers and as he passed by Fujishima, he gave the poor animal leery glances.

"Izumo, I want to help," Anna insisted.

"Why don't you go take a nap with Mikoto?" Izumo suggested.

"Yeah, you should rest a little," Kamamoto agreed as he lay the crate of beers beside the counter.

Anna gave the two men blank looks.

Then, in a very serious tone of voice and without a change in expression, she said to them, "I am not helpless,"

They blinked at her.

Izumo cleared his throat. "Of course you aren't Anna."

"Then I will clean."

* * *

"Mikoto, do something about Anna," Izumo said to his King when he came downstairs. Mikoto had been yawning widely when he had entered the bar, only to find that there was a rush of activity everywhere in preparation for their New Year's get together.

Mikoto paused in the middle of scratching his stomach to pay attention to what Izumo was telling him.

"Huh?"

Izumo pointed to the window behind the couch of closest to the bar. It was pushed away to leave enough room for Anna to stand on a chair so that she could reach upward and wipe away any specks of dirt that were lingering on the screen.

"Let her do what she wants," Mikoto said, weary of her. Yesterday he had been practically chasing her around, trying to get her to stop. She even got this desire to cook all sorts of things that she didn't want to eat.

In fact, she had left a large plate of omurice for Mikoto with the promise to eat some later and had disappeared to get the kitchen all clean and shiny...until Mikoto threatened to force her to eat if she didn't do so herself.

Right now, Mikoto was fed up of her. He was going to leave her to be everyone else's problem.

Izumo snorted as he gave Mikoto a glass of water when he sat at the bar. "Look at you, you get the pleasure of being snuggle-buddy to one of God's most beautiful creatures and here you're leaving her to the rest of us to deal with her odd moods."

"You're responsible people," Mikoto told him before drinking his water.

"Don't feed me that bullshit you lazy man," Izumo grumbled. Normally, he was one to not really make an issue of Mikoto's laid-back behavior.

However, lately he was becoming increasingly concerned over Anna. He kept waiting for that letter from Seneca to come, and if it didn't arrive by Monday, he would have to go to Seneca himself. Izumo just couldn't read Anna sometimes, and when she was in this sort of mood, he knew how hard she could push herself with this OCD-like attitude toward cleaning.

Hell, she was even more compelled to clean than he was.

And that was really saying something.

Izumo just didn't want her doing anything unnecessary. He knew that this was a time when she should be upstairs resting.

Not cleaning like there was no tomorrow.

But she was a woman. He had to be tolerant of her strange moods. The most that he was currently capable of doing was trying to regulate her actions a bit by using the other clansmen.

"Eric, help Anna," Izumo instructed. The young man placed the balloon he had been blowing up beside the packet he and Dewa and been using.

The weather hadn't allowed Izumo enough time to gather up the right decorations for a traditional New Year celebration. They were able to purchase the supplies for the traditional New Years' food but they had to settle for a more Western look in the bar with lots of balloons and streamers. It wouldn't be too complicated either as it would be a simple gathering of the clansmen. When everyone got drunk from Izumo's seemingly endless stock of liquor, no one was going to bother about decorations.

Unless they wanted to pop the balloons.

The colors of balloons Izumo had been able to obtain with dark blue, purple and red. He made sure to have red for Anna's sake.

The streamers were blue and white.

"Izumo, the windows are done," Anna informed the bartender just as Eric arrived at her side. The young man, for how harsh he was when it came to Yata, was actually quite a gentleman with Anna. He held out his hand to her and she accepted it as she stepped down from the chair.

"Isn't that a sweet sight," Izumo murmured quietly to Mikoto.

The Red King cast his eyes on his princess being helped down by Eric, like Cinderella being helped out of the carriage by the mouse-turned-footman.

Eric must have sensed the King's gaze for he glanced across the room and quickly released Anna's hand when she was safely on the ground.

Upon seeing that, Mikoto turned away and shrugged at Izumo. He was King. That was just his clansman aiding the princess.

"Anna, I don't want you doing anything else. Upstairs, now," Izumo ordered.

However, Anna, who was holding a bunch of streamers in her hands now, looked at him with wide eyes.

"You want me...to go upstairs?" Anna asked, her eyes growing wider.

"Not that," Izumo muttered but it was too late. Watching that girl who he had watched grow so quickly, look at him like that made him become sentimental and nostalgic.

"Go ahead," he sighed.

"Idiot," Mikoto muttered.

"Then you can go on right ahead and help her," Izumo told him.

"What?"

"You heard me. You're going to help her before she wears herself out. The last time she got like this, she went to sleep for nearly twenty four hours straight."

Mikoto grunted quietly. "That's not so bad."

"Not everyone is you, Mikoto."

* * *

"Anna, upstairs. Now," Mikoto growled when he saw her dragging around some furniture in the bar to get to the all the little spots she believed they had missed.

Anna, who had conditioned herself to always listen her King, immediately to obeyed.

Eric and Fujishima also hurried over to snatch away her cleaning items. Anna's expression remained neutral until she headed to the door. She looked over her shoulder specifically at Mikoto and Izumo. Izumo was deliberately looking away from her and focusing on cleaning his beloved counter while Mikoto was sitting with one leg crossed over the other with a glass of water in his hand which he casually sipped from.

"Mikoto," Anna called his name softly.

He made the mistake of looking at her.

She turned around with her hands clasped in front of her with that wide puppy eyed look on her face. "Can't I stay...longer?"

Mikoto nearly choked.

Damned brat.

"No," was his answer.

He cocked an eyebrow at her when he saw that her lower lip began to tremble ever so slightly.

"I see," she whispered and moved to go.

Mikoto let out a heavy sigh and stood up. Anna deliberately waited for him to draw closer to her before turning around to face him once more.

She kept her head lowered.

Mikoto lifted his hand.

She expected a comforting pat on the head.

_Not_ the hard pinch on her cheek.

"Ah!"

"You cheeky brat. That won't work today. Go upstairs."

"But it's boring," Anna protested.

"Not my problem," was Mikoto's response.

Her bottom lip stuck out just slightly enough for Mikoto to realize that she had a bit of a sad pout. He huffed wearily.

Here he was, the great fearsome Red King, feeling pity for a sixteen year old girl.

Well, it wasn't just any sixteen year old, was it? It was his princess, Anna Kushina.

Mikoto gently lifted his hand again and this time he pressed the knuckles of his middle and index fingers to the red mark on her cheek.

"You're tired, Anna. We can all see the dark circles under your eyes. Go back to bed," he ordered her in gruff but gentle tone.

He removed his hand and lowered his head to kiss the mar to her pale skin. "I'll come up soon, alright?"

Anna nodded and he gave her a gentle pat on her head, dismissing her. Anna obeyed Mikoto and went upstairs.

The rest of clansmen had stopped what they were doing to observe their King and Princess. Indeed, it was a baffling but very adorable scene between the two.

Mikoto heaved a sigh as he eased himself into his chair once more while everyone looked away quickly and went back to what they were doing.

"Anna can be manipulative with the way she looks at us with those wide eyes. But I think you were able to manipulate the manipulator," Izumo commented.

Mikoto shrugged, indicating that neither understood nor cared about what Izumo was saying.

The bartender chuckled as he resumed his task of cleaning his countertop.

* * *

_The innocent girl tilted her head to the side as she observed the man stooping in front of her. _

_She blinked at her beloved companion, Totsuka Tatara. The slender young man had his usual handsome smile on as he held out a small black sack to her._

_"Here, Anna. Pick a piece of paper from this."_

_Anna nodded and did as she was told. _

_As Tatara straightened, he asked her, "What name did you get?"_

_"Izumo," she replied and showed him the paper._

_Tatara looked disappointed. "Is that so? I was hoping that I would get a kiss from Anna," he pouted._

_Suddenly, someone whacked him on the back of his head. "Ouch! What was that for, Kusanagi-san?"_

_"What perverted game are you playing with a child? You can't have her kissing grown men!" Izumo snapped while Mikoto observed the scene with a sleepy expression on. He had a drink in his hand and although he seemed disinterested, the fact that he was actually looking on meant that he was taking note of what was happening. _

_Tatara lifted the eight year old child into his arms. "Well, if Kusanagi-san doesn't want a kiss on the cheek from Anna for the New Year, then she can kiss me."_

_Izumo frowned. "A kiss on the cheek?"_

_"Yes, what did you think it was?" Tatara questioned. Then he laughed, "the one with the lewd mind is you, Kusanagi-san!"_

_"Shut up!" he snapped and snatched Anna away. He set her on a chair next to Mikoto. He stooped in front of her with a sweet smile on. "I get a kiss from you, right Anna? Fair and square."_

_Before she could reply, someone else spoke. _

_"Dirty old man," Mikoto muttered as he lifted his glass to his lips. _

_Izumo stood up and grabbed Mikoto by the shirtfront. "Who's a dirty old man?!"_

_Mikoto snorted, not really bothered by the violent expression on his second in command's face. "You both are...wanting kisses from a little girl."_

_"I bet King might want a kiss from Anna a couple years from now! She'll be so pretty that you won't be able to resist her!" Tatara remarked. He was in no way at all offended by his King's words._

_Mikoto remained silent, but Anna understood. She had understood since she had first seen the state of his Sword of Damocles; he didn't think he would live that long. The clock began to strike twelve as Tatara and Izumo began to argue with each other about who Anna was going to kiss._

_On the twelfth strike, Anna tugged on Mikoto's clothes._

_He leaned his ear down a little to hear what she had to say and was surprised to feel her warm lips on his cheek. "Happy New Year, Mikoto," she said quietly._

_Mikoto's serious, sleepy expression softened as he returned to his original posture. He kindly patted her head. _

_"Thank you."_

Anna opened her eyes.

It had been a lovely memory from long ago.

Suddenly, she felt the strong arms around her shift a little before tightening. She moved her head upward, causing her soft cheek to brush against the material of Mikoto's white shirt. She gazed up at his face, observing the sleepy lines under his eyes and his mussy red hair.

They had both relived that memory just now for they had both just shared the same dream.

* * *

It was minutes to twelve.

Soon, the new year would be upon them.

"Hey, quiet you guys!" Izumo shouted above the noise of his rowdy clansmen. Anna and Mikoto had come downstairs recently. As Mikoto had promised her, he had come up and had joined her in bed for a warm cuddle.

When those two took a nap, they wouldn't awaken for hours. Today had been no different for Izumo had happened upon them sleeping like lazy cats earlier. He hadn't minded. It was good that the two were spending a little time together.

"Anna, you sit there," Izumo pointed to chair at the counter. She obeyed while he instructed everyone to gather around him.

"What are we doing?"

"It's a game Tatara told me to play with you guys on the night before the new year of the December when Anna turned sixteen," was Izumo's response.

"Totsuka-san said that? When?" Yata queried.

Indeed, when had that happened? That was the answer everyone wanted to know, including both Anna and Mikoto.

"About eight years ago. He said that hopefully, Anna would still be with us and we would all be together. He told me what to do so I want you all to pick out a piece of paper from this bag."

Mikoto gave Izumo a suspicious look. Once when they had done something similar had been for one of Anna's little tea parties: Izumo and Tatara had ended up wearing Anna's ribbons, Mikoto had on Anna's hat and Anna had been wearing Izumo's glasses.

Mikoto remembered the dream from earlier as well. Eight years ago would fit the time when Tatara had played a similar game with them. Mikoto couldn't deny that he become less bored for Anna's tea party with them game, or that he had disliked his kiss on the cheek from the very young Anna.

Dewa picked first. "I got left hand."

"I got right hand," Chitose said. He was able to come in today because Maria was still at the hospital. She would be able to come home on sunday. It was currently Friday.

"I got left foot," Yata informed them with a frown on his face.

"I got left cheek," was Kamamoto's response.

Fujishima got right foot, Eric-right cheek, Shouhei-nose, Izumo obtained forehead and finally Bando who got right temple.

"What did you get, Mikoto-san?" Yata asked.

Mikoto showed them his scrap of paper. It had 'mouth' written across it.

"So why does this have body parts on it, Kusanagi-san?" the vanguard queried. Indeed, just what sort of weird game had their comrade thought up? And why hadn't Anna been given the sack?

"Well, our dear friend decided that when Anna became sixteen years old, she should start off the new year with kisses. All of you are going to kiss her based on what part is written on the paper."

Everyone froze.

Including Anna.

She didn't mind the kisses.

But Mikoto...he got _mouth_...how did he feel about this?

"Wait...I have to kiss Anna's foot?!" Yata shouted, shocked.

"You're going to get germs of her foot," Shouhei snickered.

"Screw you!"

"Ah...you don't have to," Anna told them. She didn't know how they really felt about this.

"Nonsense, Anna! You're our princess! Think of it as our way of honoring you!" Kamamoto exclaimed happily.

Everyone suddenly began to talk excitedly, and even Yata seemed to not mind the idea of kissing her foot anymore.

"Mikoto, you can go last. When the clock strikes twelve, you get to kiss Anna on the lips!" Izumo told him.

Mikoto narrowed his eyes slightly.

"If you don't want to, exchange with me," Izumo added.

However, Mikoto snatched away his paper with a quiet growl at his second in command. He turned away and studied the one word written on it as if it was the most difficult string of letters to comprehend in the Dictionary.

Izumo laughed softly. Really, he did know that there was no way Mikoto was allowing anyone to kiss Anna's lips, even if it was a clansman.

Anna's cheeks were deep red as her clansmen continued to chatter on excitedly. It had been a while since she had been among them like this...and in a way, it made her wonder if their distance had actually been all in her head.

Perhaps she had imagined it all!

Here was Kamamoto offering her some pastries he had made himself. Before she could accept or decline, Fujishima pulled her away to play with his little rabbit.

"Anna, keep away from that! It's a beast!" Yata warned her and grabbed her arm.

Eric, who was standing beside her, snorted, "It just doesn't like you, Chihuahua,"

"Then _you_ pet it!"

Easily, the blonde clansman reached down to stroke its furry head softly.

The animal seemed to like it for she settled herself quietly in the box as Eric gave her some attention.

Kamamoto placed a comforting hand on Yata's shoulder. "It's alright, Yata-san. If he bites you again, we have a reason to cook him."

In reply, Yata slammed his foot into Kamamoto's back.

Anna felt her mood ease at their rowdiness. It had been quite a while since they had all gathered together like this and even though Anna's expression remained devoid of emotions, it did not mean her heart was not overflowing with joy of being like this once more with the people who she considered to be her family.

Finally, when the clock began to draw closer to twelve, Izumo had Anna sit down in the chair he had designated to her from earlier on.

"Yata-chan, you're up first!" Izumo called to him.

Yata nervously dropped to his knees in front of his clan's princess.

He carefully removed her red shoe, revealing Anna's small, very pale foot.

He paused, then sniffed. "Anna's foot smells like roses," he said with widened eyes.

Shouhei ruffled Yata's hair in a friendly manner. "Not everyone has smelly feet like yours!"

"Die in a hole!" Yata retorted and shoved him away. Then, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to Anna's toes.

Then, he stood up. "That wasn't bad. Happy New Year, Anna."

Anna nodded and gave him a very tiny smile which seemed to please the skateboarder very much. Fujishima did the same; he knelt in front of her and removed her shoe.

"This should be a piece of cake for the beast master," Izumo remarked.

"Yeah, he always goes around picking up all sorts of dirty strays," Yata agreed and looked pointedly at Eric.

"Funny how the Chihuahua is the smallest one, yet makes the most noise," Eric retorted.

"Why you-!"

"Enough!" Izumo snapped. He turned to Fujishima who nodded.

"Her foot really smells like roses," Fujishima muttered and like Yata, kissed her toes.

Then came Chitose and Dewa.

"For the beautiful woman who declared my son a protector," Chitose said in a grand voice before kissing her hand.

Then Dewa shook his head. "I don't have flowery words like that guy, but here's to a new year with you, Anna."

Kamamoto kissed her cheek and left pastry crumbs on it, while Eric came next and pressed his lips to the other cheek. As the time drew to twelve, Shouhei kissed the tip of her nose quickly followed by Bando who just as quickly did the same to her temple.

Right before the clock struck twelve, Izumo gently pushed her bangs upward and like a loving big brother, kissed her forehead.

"Happy New Year Anna," he told her softly with warmth in his eyes.

Anna nodded.

When he drew back, he smiled kindly to her while at the same time, he grabbed Mikoto by the arm and said, "Your turn,"

Mikoto tsked.

The clock began to chime twelve times.

"Come on Mikoto-san! Do it!" the clansmen encouraged.

Mikoto let out a weary sigh.

He caught Anna's small waist in his large hands and pulled her to her feet. Anna was startled by his abrupt movement and gasped as she grabbed the front of his white shirt to ensure that she was balanced properly. Her hands fisted into the material as she looked up at his handsome face.

"Mikoto, you don't have to if you don't want to," she told him gently. His golden eyes blinked down at her.

Mikoto snorted. All his clansmen had kissed her just now. In places that he normally wouldn't like them to. Indeed, could he have let them kiss her-the princess-while he, the King, be denied himself the opportunity himself?

Hell no.

Anna was about to say Mikoto's name again but at the same time, the clock struck twelve and his lips covered hers, claiming them for himself.

His mouth was hot, as hot as she had remembered from when she was younger and his fourteen year old self had been kissing her.

But this was different. This was not the kiss of the sweet romance of young teenagers. No, this was a completely adult kiss with a firm mouth gently moving over her own. Her eyes closed at the wonderful feeling.

Anna's experience with kissing was limited to Mikoto himself but instinctively, she knew that when she felt his hot tongue flick along the seam of her lips that she should open her mouth. She did so and his mouth slanted over hers and his tongue was slowly sliding against hers.

She could taste coffee and bourbon and damn he tasted _good_!

Suddenly, Mikoto froze and abruptly let her go, causing her eyes to spring open. They were both breathing hard and the room was in stunned silence.

Somewhere during their kissing, one of Mikoto's arms had gone around her waist and the other around her shoulders, holding her as closely as possible against his heated body. So close that she could feel the buckle of his belt press hard enough to bruise her soft stomach, even through the material of her clothing.

Her own arms had wound themselves around his neck and it had felt so good.

But Mikoto had pulled back.

Suddenly, their clansmen began to cheer and throw streamers and confetti on them.

"Happy New Year!" they yelled out.

Mikoto's eyes were dark on her and before she could really observe him, or his beautiful red to try to decipher his feelings, he let her go and moved to sit a distance away from her while her clansmen gathered around her, hugging her once more and blocking her handsome King from her view.

* * *

Anna lay down alone on her bed later on. She gently traced the outline of her lips for she could still feel the firm hold of Mikoto's mouth on hers. The way he had held her at first reminded her of her dream of him from the night before of him being a clown and kissing her. However, the dream hadn't abruptly ended just when she had started to fully enjoy his mouth on hers.

Indeed, his kiss had been deep, deep enough for her lips to become a bit swollen from his attention to them.

But he had pulled away before they could deepen the kiss even ore.

Anna didn't know how or if the kiss had really affected him, if he had just done this because he had been cheered on by his comrades, or simply because it had been a game developed by their dead comrade.

Whatever the reason, she wondered if he was truly bothered by it.

After all, while she had spent the last two days and nights sleeping in Mikoto's arms, she was currently alone right now.

Perhaps playing house was finally over.

* * *

"You pulled away so she wouldn't feel it, huh?" Izumo commented to Mikoto as he swept up the bar. Some of the guys had had to leave, such as Yata who was going to see Emi and Chitose who didn't want to worry his wife if he stayed out too late as she was not home but in the hospital still.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mikoto said to him as he downed another glass of bourbon.

"Come on Mikoto, admit it. You went to sit at the bar so you could hide it."

"Hide what?" the irritated man asked.

"Your boner," Izumo responded and ducked when Mikoto pelted his glass at him.

* * *

**A/N: I hadn't planned to have those two kiss for a while, but I decided that maybe it was time that they did. Maybe they will again...soon ;)**

**Thanks for reading, and thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and review this story.**

***The tea party mentioned comes from Chapter 4 of Growing Pains.**

****Aoi is an OC character from GP. In case you forgot him, he was first mentioned in Chapter 15. **

****I don't know all that much about how the Japanese traditionally celebrate New Year's despite I have looked it up online. That's why I haven't gone a lot into the traditions (I don't want to write in stuff I don't know a lot about and end up writing in the wrong things).**

**For those of you who reviewed the last chapter:**

_**AngelGirl0200: I'm glad that the last chapter gave you a little breather. Hope you enjoyed this one as well :)**_

_**nannerlovessnickers: 'It' ruined my childhood image of clowns. I had hated them first, and then after seeing that part where Pennywise was in the storm drain and what he did to the little boy just made me hate them more. I'm glad you love the character development :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: Concerning Pennywise: you're very welcome. Hahaha just kidding XD **_

_**XxXxXSayuri-chanxXxX: That's alright, but best of luck with school! The point of that last chapter was to show what it would be like with those two doing chores around the place if they were married :) I'll work a little more on Akemi and Kei's relationship soon :)**_

_**Indochine: Thanks very much, and I'm glad you liked the chapter :)**_

_**manga-life: I'm really pleased you read Growing Pains and that you've started this sequel. Thanks for reading and reviewing and I hope you continue to enjoy my future updates :)**_

_**Arius the Heretic: I write in a lot of fluff because I know that a lot of my readers (such as yourself) really like it, and I enjoy writing it in as well. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too :)**_

_**Ihadyprilla: Glad you are back! I will develop Akemi and Kei's relationship in good time, and you'll understand a bit more on those two later on. As they're OCs, I try to not make my chapters about them, but about the main characters. I enjoyed the original fairytales too...although I don't think I would have enjoyed them as much when I was a child. I don't mind certain Disney takes on them, like Cinderella (the first one, the sequels were a waste of time in my opinion) and probably Aladin. I liked the Sebastian from the Little Mermaid. I must say though, that now that I'm older I actually prefer the dialogue from the villains in Disney movies (such as Scar from Lion King) as opposed to the heroes/good guys. **_

_**AndieVC: *Shiver* cold weather makes me so ill! Hope you're keeping warm! Anna is going to be making some decisions soon *hint* *hint* ;)**_

_**laxus23: Those scary stories are actual fairytales. They are the original stories from the Grimm Brothers. You seem to really like Izumo. **_

_**creativeactive: Thanks for telling me that. I do often wonder if my chapters are still up to mark and your words really confirm that. Thank you :)**_

_**magicalnana: It is. I wish I was Anna so I could play husband and wife with him. Hahaha**_

_**xNightDreamerx: I will check out that error. Thanks for mentioning it. Ah, another clown hater like myself. I shall never like them. Keep practicing your mending. I'm sure you will improve. **_

_**LindyLinn: I'm glad you thought so!**_

_**Guest: Hahahaha. No. Lol, not quite yet. Character and story development are key in this story :)**_

_**Flower 117: I'm sorry to hear that that happened to you: Neji's death and Mikoto's in such a short period of time. It's very mature of you to accept your favorite character's death the way the author made it out to be. A lot of people are probably still raging about it and being ignorant of the purpose of his death. I still feel sorry that he died and I truly wish that he hadn't. He was the character I least expected to go, especially when they killed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio's dads as well. At least they died meaningful deaths. I'm fine with NaruHina, but because I don't really follow up on Naruto anymore, it's not as important to me as they used to be. Still, it would be awesome to see them together in the manga. PS: You got your kiss. Did I catch you off-guard, or did the title of the chapter make you suspect/expect? :)**_

_**LadyCassie: I'm happy you're keeping up with the sequel! Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**_

**Thanks again, and thank you for reading.**

**Let me know your thoughts on this chapter.**

**Until next time, God bless :)**


	9. Bank Statements

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 9: Bank Statements**_

_It was one of those long ago memories he had stored away in the back of his mind. Back then, Mikoto had had no appreciation for it because his bloody bad luck had made him a wife._

_Yes, Mikoto Suoh had become a **wife**. _

_Whose wife was he?_

_Well, he was the wife of Anna Kushina._

_Yes, **she** was the **husband** and **he** was the **wife**._

_Now, how did Mikoto end up in this strange mixed up gender role with an eight year old kid?_

_Well, it had started after he had come home from going out with Tatara and Izumo only to find the bar oddly quiet. Normally, it was noisy and full of activity with his clansmen around._

_However, on this day, the first of January, Mikoto entered the bar to find all his clansmen sitting quietly with serious expressions on their faces. _

_Before them on a single chair and almost like a teacher, sat Anna with a large teddy bear in her arms. _

_Mikoto walked over to them with his hands in his pockets._

_What could be more intriguing than the factor that contributed to keeping his noisy clansmen quiet?_

"_Ah, Mikoto-san, we were just picking who was going to be Anna's wife!" Yata exclaimed._

_Mikoto's cocked an eyebrow. "Huh?"_

"_We were bored and couldn't figure out what to do so we decided to play house with Anna. She was going to be the baby but she said she didn't want to do that. Then we decided that she should be the wife but apparently she plays house with Totsuka-san and ends up being the wife when she plays with him. She wanted to do something different so now she is the husband," Yata exclaimed. _

_Before he could continue, Anna hopped off from the chair and walked up to the very tall man. With her wide gray eyes and innocent face, she asked the fierce Red King, the most fearsome man in Shizume City, "Mikoto, will you be my wife?"_

_Mikoto should have said no._

_But he could never refuse anything those large, pretty eyes asked him for._

_Not when they remained unwavering._

_Unmoving. _

_Yet they grew larger and brighter with hopes and expectations._

_Mikoto didn't know what this strange power of Anna's was. _

_Even puppy eyes weren't as effective as 'Anna eyes'._

"_Is that what you want?" he asked her._

_She nodded. _

"_Fine," he muttered and sat down in the chair beside hers. _

_Tatara joined in then. With a bright smile directed at Anna, he questioned, "Can I join?"_

_Anna nodded. "Tatara is the baby."_

_Tatara looked slightly taken aback but he accepted his position without a single change in his sincere cheerfulness. _

_Even when a toy rattle was handed to him by a smirking Misaki Yata._

"_Er...if I'm the baby, what are everyone else?" Tatara asked as he observed his little rattle with curiosity. What he was really wondering was where in the world did his fellow clansmen get a rattle from?_

_He only hoped they didn't swindle some toddler for it._

_Mikoto also listened up a bit for that. He was rather interested in what strange roles his clan's princess had assigned for everyone. _

"_Rikio is our cook," Anna began to explain. The tubby fellow lifted his hand in grand salute._

_Well, nothing was strange about that. "Never trust a skinny chef!" Tatara remarked and several members nodded in agreement. Kamamoto was, after all, an excellent cook. _

_"Misaki is our big sister."_

_Tatara grinned happily. "Big sister? Ah, how suitable! Even your name is feminine...although I thought my big sister would be taller than me."_

"_Shut up!" Misaki snapped. _

_Anna continued, "Dewa is the aunty. Chitose is his unfaithful husband."_

_Mikoto and Tatara stared at her now. Even Izumo got caught up. The bartender asked from his position behind his precious counter, "Er...Anna...do you know what is an unfaithful husband?"_

_With a completely neutral face, she replied, "A husband who likes to kiss lots of women who is not his wife."_

_Several of the clansmen began to laugh, except Chitose. _

"_Is that how you see me as Anna? An unfaithful uncle?" he demanded with a saddened look on his face._

_Anna tilted her head to the side._

_She blinked once like a little baby doll. _

"_Chitose kisses lots of girls. Yesterday you kissed one and said you loved her. When she left, you kissed another and said the same thing."_

_The clansmen roared with laughter at Anna's observations. _

_Dewa placed a dramatic hand on his chest. "My dear Anna, please remain faithful to your wife, unlike my awful husband."_

_Before Anna could respond, Mikoto spoke. _"_Where did you even learn about unfaithfulness?" _

"_Izumo had the channel on a_ _Drama yesterday," she answered. _

"_Anna, what about Saru-kun and Fujishima? You've mentioned everyone except them," Tatara pointed out. _

"_Saruhiko is the first son. Kosuke is the puppy." _

_Izumo covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughing out loud. Indeed, Fujishima, the puppy?_

_Anna's imagination was indeed...fascinating._

_Fujishima was even sitting on the floor, unlike everyone else. The often serious faced young man was handed what seemed to be a pair dog ears. He seemed to be trying not to cringe as he accepted them. Then, he calmly placed one on either side of his head. He let out a soft sigh, rocked back on his heels and listened to what was going to happen next. _

_In the back, Fushimi tsked in annoyance at the stupid game. At least he got some satisfaction that Misaki was labelled 'big sister' in this. _

"_What about Kusanagi-san, Anna? What's he going to be?" Tatara asked. _

_Anna handed Tatara the big teddy bear. Since he was the baby, the teddy bear would be another one of his toys. _

"_Ah, that's alright, Anna. I'm fine with being just the local bartender."_

_Anna's mouth twisted slightly, indicating that she was thinking hard about this. _

"_Izumo will be the other wife," Anna replied. _

"_The other wife?" several members repeated. _

_Anna nodded. _

"_Oi, are you being unfaithful to me?" Mikoto questioned, deciding to get a little into the game. Anna looked at him. _

_She shook her head. "In the Drama, the husband had a wife who had died and then he married another woman who became his new wife."_

"_Wait, so I'm the dead wife?!" Izumo demanded._

_Anna nodded. Izumo scratched the back of his head. He wondered if he should be displeased about this or not._

_Still, he didn't know if he made a good 'wife' so it might be better if he remained a 'dead' one._

"_The dead wife's ghost was unhappy and came to haunt the husband and his new wife," Anna continued. _

"_Anna, you were watching a horror movie!" Yata exclaimed in fright._

_The others nodded vigorously while Tatara laughed and Mikoto looked on sleepily. _

"_Well, Anna, how should we start playing?" Tatara asked Anna. _

"_Cook has prepared dinner for us. The baby needs to be fed. Big sister will feed him," Anna replied. _

_Tatara frowned. "What will baby be fed?"_

"_Baby can't talk," Anna stated and handed Yata a pack of candy coated chocolates. Tatara turned to Yata and smiled. _

"_Looks like you have to feed me, Yata," _

"_Babies can't talk!" Yata snapped. _

"_Mother, you aren't helping out," Anna said to Mikoto._

_He grunted. It seemed that he had fallen asleep. "Eh? Okaa-san is tired," he told Anna in a gruff voice before he turned his head away to go back to sleep. _

_Anna observed him for a moment longer. _

"_Hey Otou-san, perhaps you should yell at Okaa-san because he's so lazy," Tatara whispered to her, despite knowing that he was not supposed to speak._

_However, Anna shook her head. She stood up on her chair so that she could meet Mikoto's height as she stood up for his chair was right next to hers._

_She placed a little hand on Mikoto's fiery red hair._

_The King opened his eyes and glanced at her. "Mother has worked a lot today, so she is tired," Anna said in a rather solemn tone._

_Mikoto grunted and nodded before closing his eyes again. _

_**Really, what a crazy game**, Mikoto thought. _

"_Is Otou-san going to get angry?" Misaki asked._

_Anna's reply was to lean across and wrap her little arms around Mikoto's neck. "Mother is very hard working. Happy New Year, Mother."_

_Mikoto opened his eyes at her words and the feel of her small, warm body. He let out a quiet snort and lifted his hand which he used to gently ruffle her hair. Anna had the ability to be an unintentionally cheeky little brat._

_But she was also an undeniably sweet child who loved those around as much as they loved her._

* * *

"I promised you, didn't I?" Aoi Daichi reminded Anna as they stood in the garage of his home in Seneca. It was eleven a.m on Monday and Anna had just passed her motorcycle test. From there, they had travelled on a particular red motorcycle with Anna riding it, to Seneca Town. Aoi, with his involvement in the motorcycle community was occasionally called upon to be an examiner for those seeking to get their motorcycle license.

With this option, he was able to be the one to test Anna and allowed her to pass with flying colors. He did not cheat in any kind of way for her because Anna really did carry herself about well on the bike. Aoi also never asked unnecessary questions such as where she learned to ride or anything as such. As long as she was safe, he was alright with whatever she was doing.

Aoi's promise to Anna was the red Suzuki that she had driven to Seneca. He was offering it to her at a discounted price. It was not the latest model but it was still recent. The make up the bike itself had not given way to wear and tear quite yet as the handle bars and pedals were still in excellent shape. The engine was healthy and Anna was comfortable when she rode it. As a motorcycle mechanic and fanatic, he could deem this as a reliable bike for the girl to use.

"Yes. Thank you," Anna murmured quietly.

Aoi noted her mood.

"Come, I don't think you've had breakfast yet," he said to her.

She nodded and he led her to the back where he had two cheese sandwiches already made. He gave her one on a plate, along with a cup of tea.

Aoi still maintained his shaggy graying hair, but had recently gotten rid of his huge beard and mustache.

He bit into his sandwich. "You know, my daughter didn't have a lot of motherly influence when she was growing up as my wife had died when shortly after giving birth to her. I know how important family is, and I know how important it is to have an older female for a girl to speak to. Thankfully my kid had her grandmothers on both sides to speak to. I know it's not the same for you."

Anna nodded.

She hadn't touched her sandwich or the tea yet. She simply remained sitting as she was with her head lowered and her expression blank.

Aoi observed her for a long moment. He was a man with the experience of caring for his daughter for eighteen years until she got a job of her own, and even so she lived with him for another four years before she got married. This knowledge enabled him to understand certain things about Anna, even if she didn't speak.

He got up, walked to her side and placed a fatherly hand on top of her head in an act of comfort.

Anna closed her eyes as she recalled her lonely week.

"_Izumo, where is everyone?" Anna asked when she came down to the bar. She had slept most of the morning away due to her going to bed so late. She had expected everyone to be downstairs, creating a ruction as that was how it usually was on the first of January of every year for the members of the Red Clan. _

"_They went out. They got a job and left early," Izumo responded. He was serving an early lunch to a customer. _

_The customer ordered a drink with his meal and at the same time, someone else entered the bar. It was not unusual for the bartender to open up on a holiday. There were still people who would come in for a drink-mostly single people or couples-because it was not a working day. Plus it was a weekend. People tended to go out more often on weekends. _

"_Why didn't they take me with them?" Anna queried. _

"_You needed to rest, Anna. You did so much work over the last two days," Izumo answered with a smile before he became distracted by the new patron._

_Anna felt her heart drop a little. Yesterday she had been wondering if it had all been in her head about her clan's distance from her, but she now had a sinking feeling that that was not so._

_Still, she decided to give them a chance. When they came home, she could see for herself if that was true or not. _

_As Izumo was busy with the customers and refused to let her help out, she decided to call Kei and Akemi. She learned from them that a bounty was already put out for the man who Satoshi had given Kei the information on. The man was known as Sadao Takeshi. It was already reported that he might be in Seneca but not much else was known. Bounties were being offered for information on his whereabouts, activities as well as for his possible capture. The offer for his capture ran up to three million yen. That was quite a lot of money, meaning that it would be a difficult and very unsafe task to accomplish. _

_Kei had already warned Anna that they would not get involved in his capture, because Takeshi was clearly a lot more dangerous compared to the usual lot they went after. _

_Anna, at first, did not think much on actually going after this particular man._

_However, when she thought about how much her clan was neglecting to take her out with them, it made her wonder if she should really go after the criminal just to prove to herself that she wasn't some weak girl they were starting to make her feel like. _

_Later, when her clansmen had returned home, everyone had their separate ways to go. Kamamoto had recently gotten a job as a food critic where he would go to various restaurants, try their food and write up an article about it in a food magazine. That was a job that suited the food-lover quite well. _

_Meanwhile, Yata was going to meet his Emi, Fujishima was going to spend some quality time with Fluffy, Eric and Bando were helping Izumo out at the bar while the others had someone or the other to meet. _

_As for Mikoto ...well, he had gone straight to bed and had dropped off to sleep._

_The follow day, Sunday, was no different._

_Anna decided to take charge then. She could ask one of her clansmen to come with her for her to get her motorcycle license. They would probably be really surprised, but supportive of her. Anna thought it might be good that she shared this information on herself with them. She was already hiding so much with her bounty hunting that she wondered if perhaps her secrecy had made her be the one to pull away from them first, and not the other way around._

_After all, her clansmen would not deliberately separate themselves from her. They were rowdy and ignorant but they were not neglectful._

_At least she didn't think so, despite their recent behaviors toward her. _

_Since she would not be able to speak to most of the guys on Monday morning which was when her test would be, she knew she would have to do so on Sunday evening._

_It was a good idea, wasn't it? She could picture the shocked expression on everyone's faces. Then Yata exclaiming, **"We can race with me on my skateboard and you on your motorcycle!"**_

"_**We can go riding together!" **she believed Kamamoto would shout and the others would cheer on for that._

_Izumo might be a bit worried, but he would let her do as she pleased after some coaxing from the rest of clansmen. Mikoto might blink in surprise at her but would probably pat her head or kiss her cheek as a little reward for her accomplishment (assuming that she did get her license)._

_Unfortunately, when the guys came in that evening, Anna was searching for the right moment to ask them but everyone was so caught up in their own conversations, or were busy with the Sunday evening crowd in the bar. It was therefore a difficult to announce to her clansmen that she was going to get her motorcycle license because everyone was doing something separate in different locations of the bar. _

_Anna decided to speak to them one on one. Her first choice was Yata. _

_She found him in the kitchen, cooking what looked like rice on the stove. _

"_Ah, Misaki-"_

"_Eh? Anna? Can you come back later? I'm making this for my mom and I don't want it to burn," he told her as he added what looked like pineapple to it._

_Anna didn't think much about his odd combination in the food. However, she agreed. "Y-Yes. I'll come back...later."_

_But she knew he wouldn't be here later. His absence was no longer something strange to her. _

_Anna decided Kamamoto should be next. She found him in the basement. He was already picking up some crates to take upstairs. _

"_Anna? You shouldn't be down here, it's cold," he gently admonished her. _

"_I wanted to ask-"_

"_Maybe later, Anna. Izumo will kill me if I delay with these beers. We're running out of them upstairs. He'll keep me in tomorrow and I have somewhere else to go."_

"_Is that so?" Anna murmured quietly and followed him up the stairs. _

_So Kamamoto was not going to be home._

_Shouhei was still in his old hometown with his parents._

_Anna knew Eric had work the following the morning and more than likely Fujishima was helping out in the animal shelter. Chitose would be home with his wife and child as they had just come back from the hospital. _

_When Anna had gone to speak to Dewa and Bando, they were already walking out the bar, chatting excitedly about some girls they had met. _

_That left Izumo and Mikoto._

_Anna didn't want to ask Izumo because she had a feeling that he might be strongly against it. He might tell her to wait until she was a bit older. His attitude toward her was really getting out of hand with the way he was treating her like such a child._

_The only person who was left was Mikoto. _

_Anna opened his door and found him curled up sleeping with his thick blanket covering him from head to toe. _

"_Mikoto," she softly called his name as she sat down beside him. She caught the scent of alcohol._

_Mikoto had been drinking. _

"_Mikoto," she repeated._

_A grunt was what she received as a response. _

"_There's somewhere I need to go tomorrow. Will you come with me?"_

_Another grunt was her reply. _

_Anna felt herself grow irritated. "Is that a yes or a no?" she demanded. _

_She heard him huff and pull the covers around him tighter._

_She supposed that that was a no too. _

_Anna left the room quietly. She hadn't forgotten the kiss from the night before. It was still etched deeply in her mind-the way his mouth had moved on hers, the way his hot tongue had touched hers, the way he had held her and made her feel..._

_And while she held that memory so dear to her, he was content on drinking and forgetting about her. _

_And tomorrow she was going to be alone for her motorcycle test. She wanted to call Akemi and Kei but she knew that she would start crying and that she would worry them._

_So she didn't call. _

_**Tatara**, she thought, **you wanted me to start my New Year with kisses, but it turns out that it's started all alone instead.**_

* * *

"Anna, I don't know what's going on and I have a feeling that even if I ask, you won't tell me. Not because you don't want to, but because you're so hurt that you can't find the words to say."

Anna remained silent at what Aoi had just said to her.

He was right though.

Anna swallowed hard, fighting the tears.

Aoi gently ruffled her hair. "The only advice I can give you is that if you need to ask something, ask. If you don't, the answer will always be 'no'. If you're assuming something, don't assume because you'll never know the truth. You need to find out for yourself. The reason why I'm telling you this is because I get the feeling that you're a very confused young woman right now and you're uncertain about many things and it is this uncertainty and confusion that is hurting you. You need to speak to someone before it kills you inside, Anna-hime. You _need_ to communicate."

Anna nodded and he removed his hand.

"Please eat the sandwich and drink the tea," Aoi added.

Anna obeyed, despite the tears that had already begun to silently pour down her face. They dripped onto her sandwich and she hoped that she finished her meal before it became soggy.

* * *

Anna knew that Aoi's words made sense. She drove her new motorcycle to her apartment that she shared with Akemi.

Anna decided that maybe the fault of everything was her own. She was the one who hid from her clan what she was doing. She had reasons for that, probably very _legit_ reasons but that did not mean that it was right.

She figured that her actions might have made her unconsciously pull away from them, and therefore she thought that she shouldn't have any reason to be upset with her when she was the one who did something wrong in the first place.

She decided that maybe she needed to come clean about this.

What she wanted was to feel like a part of the clan again-not the person they decided to check on when it felt convenient for them. She did not want to feel neglected anymore.

It hurt, and it hurt a lot to think about but she felt that she needed to do something. As Aoi had said, she needed to ask, she didn't need to assume.

She would speak to Izumo.

She would let him know _exactly_ what she had been doing for the past two years.

But there was something else she wanted to do.

She needed to speak to Yuki Natsume.

And she was going to capture Takeshi Sho.

* * *

"That hang-over is your own fault, Mikoto. Do you think getting drunk every evening is going to make you forget that you and Anna made out?" Izumo questioned Mikoto who was slumped over the bar.

"Shut the hell up. I didn't get drunk for that reason and we didn't make out," Mikoto growled as he rubbed his fingers into his temples in an attempt to ease his headache.

Izumo had been ticked off with Mikoto for destroying his precious glass at two in the morning on Saturday, but he knew he had deserved it.

Was telling Mikoto he had a boner from kissing Anna worth the destruction of his beloved item?

In a way, it was for the bartender. He did weep for his glass the way a mother would mourn over the passing of a sick child, but that didn't mean that there were times when he just liked risking loosing a hand or his head just to see Mikoto behave a certain kind of way.

That was probably one of the reasons why Tatara used to try to prank Mikoto so often-just to see how he would react.

Izumo shrugged at Mikoto's words while eying some papers in his hand. "I haven't seen you get bitched out like that for some time."

"Where is she?" Mikoto suddenly demanded.

"Anna? She left for Seneca early this morning. I thought you knew that," Izumo answered as he viewed some documents in his hand.

Mikoto narrowed his eyes. "Seneca?"

Izumo looked at him. "Yeah. Why do you sound so confused?"

"She asked me to go somewhere yesterday. She didn't say she was going to Seneca."

Izumo snorted as he flipped through the papers, pausing on a particular one, "You had a lot to drink yesterday, Mikoto. Maybe you dreamed it,"

"I didn't dream it," Mikoto told him very seriously.

Izumo knew Mikoto wasn't kidding around now.

The King nodded to the documents in Izumo's hands, "Is that the letter?"

Yata came into the bar and had overheard part of their conversation. "Letter? What letter?" he queried after greeting his King and second in command.

"It's not exactly a letter per se...it's more of an investigative report," Izumo explained.

Yata lifted an eyebrow. "Investigative report? On who?"

"Anna."

* * *

"There's no sex in this one," Kei said as he tossed the magazine aside.

"Hey, don't abuse my manga like that!" Akemi snapped.

"But there's no one doing anything downright dirty in that story!" Kei protested.

"Not every love story needs to have sex in it!" Akemi retorted as she moved to pick up her magazine.

She stepped over Kei's feet as he sat on the floor. However, he reached up and grabbed her arm, pulling her down into his arms.

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders while the hand of the other caught her chin, forcing her to look up at his handsome smiling face.

"Come now, sweet Akemi. I know you have a stash of dirty manga somewhere, and-"

"Am I interrupting?" came Anna's voice.

The pair froze at the sound of their friend's voice. She was standing in the doorway of the apartment she and Akemi resided in. Slung over one arms was a pale brown shoulder bag. Her white hair was tied into a pony tail and she was wearing black slacks with a matching long sleeved blouse and jacket. Her scarf was red and was wrapped a bit haphazardly about her shoulders.

Akemi scrambled off Kei and hurried to her female friend. "Anna, Kei and JJ are two complete weirdoes! They seem so different, but they're the exact same thing! I'm afraid that they'll touch me in a dirty way!"

"Who'd want to touch you in a dirty way?!" Kei snapped in reply and folded his arms after an annoyed huff.

Anna sighed and gently ushered her friend from off her. She quietly removed her bag and her scarf. As she moved to get her jacket off, Akemi and Kei observed her.

Anna was being extremely quiet.

Oh, she was often quite silent.

But this was different.

This was a _strained_ silence.

They realized then that their friend was upset.

Akemi touched her shoulder hesitantly and immediately the girl stiffened.

"Anna. Are you alright?" she questioned tentatively.

Anna didn't say anything for a long moment. Akemi was about to say something else until Anna finally admitted, "No,"

The other two looked at each other, then at her.

"What happened?" Kei asked.

Anna shook her head. "I'll tell you...later. I want to talk to Satoshi about Takeshi's whereabouts."

Kei narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Anna, you aren't going after him, are you?"

Anna shrugged.

Kei got to his feet. "Are you crazy, Anna?! I've told you he's dangerous!"

Anna calmly walked over to the closet to put away her jacket. "I never said I was going after him."

Kei glared at her.

Akemi, listened and quietly she told Anna, "But you haven't said that you aren't going to either."

Anna shut the closet door a little too hard then. "If I go after him, I have a good reason for it."

"Then _do_ you have a good reason?" Akemi hesitantly queried.

Anna turned around then. Her head was lowered slightly and her eyebrows were furrowed just a tiny bit. It seemed Anna had quite a bit on her mind. After all, she was actually showing signs of distress of some sort. This was something rare to see in Anna's behavior.

"I don't know," she replied honestly.

* * *

"Why would you have to do an investigative report on Anna?" Yata asked, quite stunned.

"Well, it's just a little insight into her financial activities," Izumo answered.

"I still don't get it. Anna is a good girl. She isn't in trouble or anything, right?"

"That's what we needed to know. A few weeks ago, a bank statement came to me from Seneca. It was a reminder that Anna's account, which is under my name, had not been active for some time now. Banks tend to send warnings every couple of months on idle accounts as they can make the decision to close them."

Yata scratched his head. He was a pretty ignorant guy sometimes.

But he wasn't dumb.

"But she works. Wouldn't she have to put her money in the bank instead of sticking it under her mattress?"

Izumo handed Yata a financial statement. "Not unless she has another bank account."

"Why would Anna need another account if she already has one?"

"Well, that was what we were wondering. That first bank statement in your hand is from the account that is in my name. You'll see 'Izumo Kusanagi' at the top. I requested it because I thought it was strange that Anna did not use the account for several months. It has small expenditures from Anna since it was first opened and then there were some deposits from the Seneca schools. That because she was a part of that club that found items. As she was doing a service to the school, she and the members were paid."

Yata nodded. He knew about Anna's club. Suddenly, Yata paused at one of the last items. "Hey, Kusanagi-san, there's a cash deposit here of a little more than three thousand yen. Did you give her that?"

"Your mind's pretty sharp today," Izumo remarked.

Yata wasn't sure if he should be insulted. Still a bit miffed at the underlying implication that he was a bit stupid, Yata retorted, "It's dated nearly two years ago when she didn't even have a proper job outside the school at that time," Yata did pay attention to little details concerning the clan's princess, "That's a lot of cash for a kid to be walking around with."

"Unless someone gave it to her."

"And you did?"

"I didn't. I've never given Anna any cash to put into her account. I simply transfer some over time, but she told me to stop since she started working at the maid cafe."

Mikoto drank some water from his glass. "If you did as she asked by giving her the money that her parents left her, maybe she mightn't have seen the need to work," the King said.

"That money is supposed to be for when she turns into an adult," Izumo argued.

"You had agreed to give it to her, but you wanted to keep her reliant on you so you only advanced a couple thousand yen a month to her. You sure were cheap with her parents' money, Izumo."

"Don't make it sound like I'm haggling the money for myself!" Izumo snapped. On a quieter note, he added, "she's just a kid and I want her to be well off when she's an adult in case I'm not around to take care of her. That heritance money could come in handy for her, you know."

"She's taking care of herself now," Yata pointed out. They knew that he was referring to her having a job and an apartment of her own.

Izumo nodded. It was true; Anna had found a way to take care of herself and be independent of Izumo.

"Well, she refuses to let me help her out. Anna grew up too quickly for her own good," Izumo muttered, almost to himself.

"She was already a little adult when we met her," Mikoto recalled.

"Yes; circumstances forced her to be that way."

"Erm...sorry to interrupt, Kusanagi-san, but you haven't explained everything yet," Yata reminded him.

"Ah, sorry Yata-chan. Well, I showed Mikoto the bank statement and we decided that we should find out what Anna was doing."

"Why didn't you just ask her?"

"She might have lied," Izumo responded.

Yata's eyebrows lifted. "Anna would have lied?"

"If there's something she's up to and she's hiding it from us then it's obvious she doesn't want us to know. This is something serious, Yata-chan. The purpose of another account is for her to hide all her financial activities from us. She's up to something serious that she wants us to keep on not knowing about. Even Mikoto doesn't know what she's doing. She would have lied about us and even if she knew that we knew she was lying, she would have stuck with those lies."

Yata frowned. "Then she's in trouble?"

"I don't know," Izumo sighed. "her behavior lately is really strange. Don't you think?"

Yata's mouth twisted slightly. "I don't really know..."

He actually hadn't been around often enough to really notice.

"Sometimes I think certain things upset her and I can't really tell why. Even when I ask, she says everything is fine."

"Now that you mention it, that has happened with me," Yata said. He recalled last week when he had told her that he hadn't bought her pudding because he had thought she had outgrown it, that she had seemed to have become rather annoyed over something.

Yata still didn't understand what.

"Well, I was hoping that it isn't something serious. Since I'm Anna' legal guardian and because I'm Mikoto's second in command, those guys in the bank who are mostly Red Clan members didn't hesitate to give me information on Anna's new bank account."

Izumo handed Yata another bank statement. Unlike the previous one which had had Izumo's name on it, this one had Anna's.

Yata's eyes widened.

In fact, they seemed ready to pop out. "What the hell?! Where are all these cash deposits coming from?!"

There were up to five figure deposits sometimes, and all of them were cash. Yata never recalled ever making that much when he worked before becoming a skateboarder. The short fellow also saw that there were cheque deposits from the maid cafe where she worked but the cash deposits were still quite a heavy number. Sometimes they were even triple the cheques she got from work.

No way were those cash deposits her tips!

"I got that bank statement about not too long after Anna got that bruise."

"Bruise?" Yata repeated.

Mikoto was the one to reply, "Anna got a bad bruise the week before. It was on her face,"

"But I was here last week! I didn't see any bruise!"

"She used make up to hide it up,"

"Wait...does she even know that you guys are even suspicious of her?"

"No," Izumo answered. "she doesn't know anything. We've been hoping she would say something, but she hasn't and we haven't asked either. Those are large sums of money. We thought that the possibility might be that she's caught up in something dangerous and maybe she mightn't be able to tell us. However, I got the investigative report today to find out where exactly those cash deposits are coming from. It seems that Anna and her friends have their own little business going on."

Izumo took the documents from Mikoto who had been skimming through them and handed them to Yata.

"Why didn't you just have the banks email you?" Mikoto asked the bartender.

"Only now did you think of that?The banks in Seneca tend to be a bit backward with their letters. They don't trust online services as there tends to be a lot of hacking attempts. The students usually pick up their bank statements themselves at the banks. They mail them out to parents if requested and their services are very efficient. The same goes for the investigative report because I had one of members from the bank do it for us," Izumo replied.

Mikoto nodded. Privacy came first across there and with the number of people who were probably trying to hack into their systems due to the amount of wealthy clients, it seemed that the banks were forced to use old methods of delivery.

"Kusanagi-san, according this report, the cash deposits correlate with withdrawals from another bank account that is in neither your nor Anna's name. A specific amount seems to go to one belonging to some guy named Kei Junichi...why is that name familiar?"

"That's Anna's friend," Izumo responded and Yata's eyebrows shot up.

Okay, things were starting to make sense now.

Mikoto began to speak now, "The documents have figures from Junichi's account. Most of the figures in that account come from wire transfers from the police department from Seneca. The dates from Junichi's account correspond directly with the dates of the cash deposits of Anna's account. If you multiply several of the cash deposits by three, you would realize that it adds up to the same amount in the transfers to Junichi's account at the specific dates."

Yata realized then that Izumo was a man with very far reaching hands. He had resources and he knew how to use them to get his information. It was almost frightening to know what that man was capable of digging up on a person. Suddenly, the short fellow realized something.

"Wait...the police department? And if the money is divided by three and third of it goes to Anna, then who does the rest go to?"

Izumo spoke next, "Actually, based on what I've seen, sometimes the money seems to be divided a couple more times, but Anna seems to get the largest portion of it. The reason why the money comes from the police department is because Anna and her friends, obviously Kei Junichi and Akemi Crystal-Belle Hisoka, are running a little business of bounty hunting."

"Bounty hunting?! Anna?"

Izumo nodded. "I'm not surprised because of her involvement with us...I'm just shocked at the lengths she goes to hide it up,"

"But she has a decent job! Why would she resort to that?"

Izumo frowned. "If you look at Anna's account-the one she now uses and that is under her name, you would see that there each month, money is withdrawn to in the form of a cheque to pay someone else a specific amount. I think that might be her landlord. Anna claimed her rent to be half that amount to me, but if it is that she got a nice place to live then working in the maid cafe wouldn't cover the costs. Not with the amount of hours she works. Maybe she just wants more money. Mikoto, what do you think?"

Mikoto was glancing through her bank statement again. Then he let out a heavy sigh. The truth was that he did not know what to think. It was a shock to him about what Anna was doing and he was in no way pleased by her actions, or her secrecy about it.

"I think we need to decide what to do," was his response.

"Do you think we should stop her? She got a pretty bad bruise before," Yata reminded him.

However, Izumo was the one to talk now, "I think we need to talk to her and hear what she has to say. She might be upset that we pried but I think she we would understand why we did it."

"When are we going to do that?"

Izumo grinned, "Why don't we go to Seneca today and visit that little maid cafe she works in?"

Before Yata could respond, Izumo's PDA began to ring.

To his surprise, it was Natsume Yuki who was calling him.

"Natsume-san! It's always a pleasure to hear from you!"

"And you as well, Izumo. Anna's coming by for dinner today. She says that she needs to speak to me."

Izumo's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Speak to you? Sounds serious."

The older woman nodded. "Yes. She didn't say what it was about, but she looked rather unhappy. In fact, lately I think Anna is very unhappy about a lot of things. She doesn't come around as often so I haven't gotten a chance to speak with her about it."

"I see."

"Anyway, I need your help. It seems that there's a certain guy by the name of Takeshi Sadao who is coming to Seneca."

"You need us to take him down?"

"It's not him who I am worried about, it's the strain he seems to have working him. Takeshi Sadao is technically a drug lord but based on the information I've gotten, it seems that his strain is a poison-based one. He sends spikes at his enemies and poisons them. Once the spikes are removed from the person, the poison is immediately released."

"So if a person gets hit with the spikes, they can't removed until an antidote is administered?"

"Right."

"Sounds painful."

"Depending on how deep it is, it can be painful. I've already developed an antidote. I've already warned off the police from going after Takeshi because of how dangerous that strain is, but I do need you guys. Three million yen for his capture and I will speak to the Gold King about convincing Scepter 4 to offer a high reward for the strain's capture as well. I want this person and his strain off my turf. Can I count on you for that?"

"Of course you can," was the bartender's response.

Indeed, things were working out nicely.

They were going to get things done today.

However, there were certain things they needed to find out, and in order to do so, they had to speak to Ryosuke Natsume-Yuki's son and Anna's High School principal.

* * *

**A/N: I apologize for my lack of fluff, but there will be some in future chapters. It's after midnight where I am and I'm hiding and trying to quietly finish and edit this chapter. If something doesn't make sense, forgive me-it's kinda difficult to concentrate when you're worried someone is gonna peek in on you and yell at you for being up all night.**

**I was going to make Mikoto the baby at the beginning scene, but I decided to save it for another time.**

**Now you understand what that 'letter' was all about.**

**I'm not sure if I explained how the money in Kei's bank account relates to the cash deposits in Anna's properly. It was probably a bit confusing, but if I have the opportunity to explain it better in the future, I will do so. **

***Chapter 11 of Growing Pains has when Izumo opened the bank account for Anna and their discussion concerning her parents' money that they left for her.**

****Chapter 26 of GP has how Izumo actually didn't send her a lot of money, as well as the beginnings of Kei's plan for them to form the Finder's Club.**

*****Chapter 27 has how the Finder's Club came about to be formed.**

******I think Yata added pineapple to fried rice in one of the Radio Dramas**

*******PLEASE READ: The last cash deposit mentioned on Anna's bank statement came from the cash reward from the first unintentional bounty she earned. That was from 47 of GP. **

**Thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and reviewed this story.**

**For those who reviewed:**

_**Indochine: Hahahaha. Maybe there will be more kisses in the future ;) I think both Anna and Mikoto are craving each other quite a lot ;)**_

_**LadyCassie: I'm glad you loved the chapter. I laughed when you mentioned your dog looking at you like you had gone mad XD**_

_**Guest: Yep, things getting a bit sexual, just a teeny bit ;)**_

_**manga-life: It seems Tatara is trolling on Mikoto even though he's gone :) I'm glad you liked their moments, and the ending :)**_

_**Mandy Lestrange: I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)**_

_**nannerlovessnickers: I'm pleased that you liked this chapter!**_

_**EmbersofImagination: Sorry I haven't replied your PM yet. I've been a little busy, but I did double check the chapter even after posting and dug out some errors. I shortened the chapters because they became so cumbersome and the grammatical errors became harder to pick up on because of that. I'm glad that you were pleased with the chapter despite its shortness. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Did the content of the letter/report fall in line with any of your suspicions? PS: Don't worry about not reviewing the last chapter. As you said, you did PM me which I was glad about :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: I'm glad you liked those parts :)**_

_**Maya095: It made you blush? Aww :) Maybe there'll be more parts sometime in the future for you to blush even more at ;)**_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: Your words made me smile. I take it that you enjoyed their kissing :)**_

_**LindyLinn: I'm happy that you're happy :)**_

_**Guest: I'm glad you liked those parts. **_

_**DBerryNia: Yes they kissed! And I'm glad you like Akemi and Kei's twisted relationship :) I hadn't intended to really pair up Fushimi and Yata with the two OCs, or even bring them over into the sequel, but a lot readers liked them and asked that I have them make appearances. I think most people favored Fushimi/Chie though because they're both tsunderes. I'm really glad you were able to make it for the sequel! I'm glad you caught up, but do make sure that you get enough sleep!**_

_**Yanniesama: I'm glad you liked the kissing scene! I don't mind you asking questions. To answer yours on if Anna really did have a brother, the answer is no. A lot of the information I get is from the novels such as Mizuchi and Anna's parents' deaths. I normally mention in the A/N what parts are related to the other material on K aside from the anime. Thanks for the best wishes, and God bless you too, my dear :)**_

_**AndieVC: Well, you make sure to stay warm for the frosty months. When will it get warm again for you? I'm glad you like their kissing moment :) Now you know what the letter was :)**_

_**creativeactive: I just got your PM and thank you so much for sending that information to me. I had also happened to read something a bit similar from one of the K short stories. I think it's called 'The First Shrine Visit of the New Year'. The tumblr of chilly-territory has it up in case you haven't checked it out as yet. Thanks for taking the time to help me understand. Unfortunately, I had already written this chapter but I will keep that information in mind. Thank you so much though, I truly appreciate your help :) Perhaps there will be some more romance soon :)**_

_**Flower 117: I'm glad I caught you off-guard in a pleasant way! I really can't picture Mikoto with another girl either :)**_

**Thanks again everyone.**

**Until my next update, God bless :)**


	10. Visitors

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 10: Visitors**_

"_Take it off," he ordered in a soft voice. Mikoto's voice was always rich, deep and thick. _

_But this time, his words had such a sensual touch to them, that she could almost feel them roll over her skin, making her shiver in fear, and excitement. _

_Anna was wearing nothing but a plain white shirt. Her hair was combed loose and spilled down her shoulders, her back and onto Mikoto's bed which she was kneeling on._

_She didn't know she got here._

_She didn't know **why** she was wearing this._

_All she knew was that Mikoto's eyes on her were dark...almost smoky as he waited ever so patiently for her to obey him._

_He was sitting on an armchair with his hand formed into a fist as he leaned on his elbow while calmly gazing at her. _

"_Mikoto," she whispered his name, quite unsure about this._

_Without a change in his posture, he once more commanded, "The shirt, take it off."_

_Anna's swallowed hard and nervously her small, pale hands went to the buttons of her cotton covering. She tried her best not to fumble as she undid them, but she was shaking._

_She was so anxious! _

_But it wasn't only that...it was the way he looked at her...it aroused something in her that she had always fought hard against. _

_She wanted to remove her clothing, but she did not know what he was going to when she did. _

_However, she knew what she **wanted** him to do._

_She wanted him to touch her._

_To stroke his hands along her body the way she felt his words did._

_She wanted him to kiss her again and for the kiss to be slow, hard and deep. She wanted her mouth to become bruised and swollen from his attention to them._

_Yes, Anna was nervous but she was also excited. _

_Mikoto stood up and walked over to her. His movements made her freeze. _

_She eyed him warily, like a cautious little animal. He caught her chin between his thumb and his forefinger so that he could force her to look into the molten liquid gold of his eyes. _

"_Take it off," he once more ordered, in that same sensual tone. Then, more roughly, the threatened, "or I will remove it myself."_

_Anna gasped but Mikoto held her in place. "Or is that what you want me to do?" he murmured his question while he slowly moved his free hand to touch the button at her chest and undo it himself. _

"_Mikoto-"_

"_Anna!" someone called._

_The room suddenly began to fade as her name was called again. She tried to see Mikoto but she saw that he had returned to his chair and was currently lighting a cigarette._

_Even as his image slowly dissipated, he continued to watch her while taking a calm, easy drag from his cigarette._

* * *

"Anna!"

Anna's eyes flew open and she saw Akemi standing beside the couch which she had fallen asleep on.

Akemi had a worried look in her face.

"I've been calling your name for the last five minutes. Are you ready?"

Anna nodded. She was dressed in plain jeans and a black turtleneck sweater. Anna had an afternoon and late evening shift along with her friend at the maid cafe. When they got there, they would change into their uniforms.

Akemi's blue eyes watched her with uncertainty. "Anna, you clearly haven't gotten enough rest. Why don't you take this afternoon off? Sayuri-san won't mind too much."

Anna shook her head. She had to go to work today.

And she had a job to do much later.

As Akemi went to get her things together, Anna thought back on that strange dream.

It had been thrilling.

A totally, utterly exciting dream.

Unfortunately, it was one she she didn't think would ever come through.

* * *

That kiss when the clock struck twelve for New Year's had remained deeply etched into Mikoto's mind. He had meant to just give Anna a brief smack on the lips.

Just a slight brush.

_Not_ such an adult kiss.

But the feel of her soft body against his, the way her full breasts moulded against his hard chest made him just want more from her.

He had wanted to force her mouth open wider with his and drag his tongue hotly against hers.

He had wanted to tear the clothing from her body, love her and mark her as his own.

But he couldn't do it.

He _wouldn't_ do it.

Anna was only sixteen and she had barely started to live her life yet.

He was not going to confine her to himself and the clan for he believed that she needed to know what she wanted for herself in life.

Mikoto was normally like a beast, an animal who took what he wanted, regardless of others. His power was rioting wildly inside of him, tormenting him because of his pent up sexual frustration: his desire for Anna that he was trying to so hard relinquish was affecting the control he had of his power. That was why he had spent the last two days drunk so that he could do his best to numb his feelings.

Thankfully, Anna had had her cycle so he was able to stay close enough to her without getting worried about touching her in a way that he shouldn't. He had been able to cuddle and nap with her in a way that he hadn't done in a very long time. Truly, he had enjoyed it although it was short-lived.

Mikoto was glad she had left today as well because if he had calculated correctly, her cycle would have ended the day before.

He knew Anna's own desires for him and there were times when he had almost smelled how strong it was.

It pretty damned hard to know someone wanted him as much as he wanted her and yet he decided to quell the beast inside of him an act all human.

Sometimes he wished that he was everything that strangers thought him to be-a selfish monster who had nothing regarding humanity inside of him.

That way it wouldn't have been so hard to just take Anna as his own.

But no, he just had to be all human when it came to her, he just _had_ to be all reasonable about it.

_Conversations did not need to be lengthy between the powerful red King and his little princess. They had an understanding between the two of them that allowed for them to communicate at their own pace. But Mikoto knew that she was a child who was aware that she needed to someone to save her from her nightmares, from the past that was marred with trauma and insecurity and he knew that she believed him powerful enough to do so._

_And Mikoto wanted to guard her. He would care for this girl for as long as he possibly could. People believed him to be nothing but a monster but he was, in fact, someone who protected what needed to be protected._

_Like this little person he had made a part of his clan and who had become his princess. _

Mikoto snorted to himself in a self-derisive manner. Anna had come into his life and made him feel more human. It was only natural that he treat her as one.

* * *

_**He hadn't dreamt like this in a long time. He hadn't seen nightmares of destruction in several months. Yet, here he was amidst it all, breathing hard as his body deteriorated to ash because of the burden of his power.**_

_**Burns hurt hell. It was like having one's skin being flayed out from the inside.**_

_**But Mikoto could bear that pain. He could bear it. He could control it.**_

_**What he couldn't control was his destructive power. He was fighting it hard, trying to tame that monster inside of him.**_

_**Yet, it fought back at him and Mikoto was quite sure that he would reach the tipping point soon. Just now, he might fall apart and that monster inside him would take over. That thirst to destroy would consume him and he would become the monster. His very humanity would disappear. **_

"_**Mikoto," a soothing familiar voice resounded in his mind. **_

_Mikoto's eyes flew open. To his surprise he saw Anna sitting on his bedside with her hands folded neatly on her lap. He hadn't seen the girl in nearly two weeks. Her job had kept her from coming home. _

"_When did you get back?" he asked and searched around his bedside for a cigarette._

"_Just now. Was Mikoto having a nightmare?"_

_Mikoto paused in his search and looked at her._

_Then he snorted and turned away. He was not in a pleasant frame of mind after that nightmare. "How would you know if I was having a nightmare?"_

"_Because you look the way I feel sometimes," was her soft answer._

_Mikoto glanced back at her. Indeed, she did suffer nightmares as well, didn't she?_

_Nightmares of being strangled, drowned and burned. Nightmares of loosing control of her power and harming others. Nightmares of being destroyed herself. _

_Indeed, she shared a certain kind of burden for him._

_At one point in time they had been each other's salve for the burns of the burden of their powers. They soothed each other, calmed each other and comforted each other._

_Their silent decision to cut out sleeping together had not not been easy on either one._

_Neither was the sexual tension._

_Mikoto would rather have his powers destroy him than to touch the young girl in an inappropriate way._

_Anna was very much aware of that Mikoto was considerate of the fact that she was no longer a child, but a young woman._

_What she did not know that he himself was fighting off his own cravings. However, she would rather die herself than to have Mikoto know just how many nights she had awakened to her body covered in sweat all because her dreams had been filled with him. Filled with those golden eyes of his, that long, lithe body._

_She knew how his hands felt she knew how his lips felt on her skin, she knew how his body felt against hers...but in only in an affectionate way._

_She did not know how it felt to have him touch her in a sexual way. She only just imagine._

_Yet and there were so many nights she had had to take a cold shower just to control these feelings of wanting him to touch her like that. _

_For Mikoto, touching her was becoming a problem. He had to fight his own desires for this...this child. _

_But for this moment, he did need her. He could acknowledge that much._

_He needed to touch the person who reminded him that he was not the only one whose destructive powers heavily weighed on his shoulders._

_For she also knew this feeling as well and Anna was human. She was the human he protected and wanted to keep on protecting. And he wanted to safeguard her from her nightmares as well._

_This reminded Mikoto that yes, he as well was very much a human so he couldn't loose this battle with his power._

_For her sake, for her protection, he would last a little longer._

_Mikoto sat up and caught her shoulders in his large hands. He lowered his mouth and kissed her forehead. He could take this much from her for now._

_No long hours of cuddling; just this one little platonic kiss and he would be alright._

* * *

"Did your nap help with your hang-over?" Izumo asked Mikoto when he went down to the bar.

Mikoto didn't answer that question.

Izumo sighed. He hadn't expected him to.

"I got in contact with Ryosuke. He said that Anna finished all her subject areas during the last school term. All that's left is for her to do is write the exams for her to into the college of her choice if she wants to attend."

"I see."

"She's not been telling us a lot of things, Mikoto," Izumo pointed out.

Mikoto did recall, however, that Anna had mentioned that she had the option of finishing up her schoolwork the term before and returning home for good.

Most of the time he was either very adamant about her staying in Seneca or he ignored her.

The Red King supposed that he should have paid more attention to what she had been saying.

"Shall I get the guys together?" Izumo questioned.

"Yeah."

* * *

Yata was walking back to Homra with Emi had his side. Emi's reddish brown hair was currently shoulder length. She kept it tied up into a neat ponytail. She had also forgone her pair glasses for a set of contact lens instead.

She wore on light make up such as a little red on her lips and a bit of mascara. Even her clothing tended to be a bit more stylish as she dressed in black leggings and a knee length white skirt with a matching jacket about her shoulders.

Emi was a bit shorter than Yata and the pair were often mistaken as Middle schoolers when Yata was not recognized for his status as a world class skateboarder.

"I'm sorry I won't be able to spend the day with you," he apologized to her.

Emi smiled understandingly. She placed a kind hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, Misaki. You said you need to go visit your cousin right? The pretty girl with the white hair?"

Yata nodded.

"Misaki," Emi voiced his name softly.

He looked at her.

She seemed to be a bit shy about something from the way she twisted her hands nervously.

"What's wrong?" Yata queried.

"Well...Chie mentioned to me that Fushimi-san said that you had a huge phobia of girls. How did you learn to get along so well with your cousin? You told me you didn't know her until she was around eight years old."

Yata glowered. He wasn't mad at it girlfriend. It Fushimi he pissed at!

Damned monkey!

He? The _Great_ Yatagarusu used to have a phobia around women?!

Okay, it was true. He used to always get nervous around girls and he still did.

It was only after he met Emi that he was able to get along a little better with them.

However, Yata had to answer Emi's question. He thought back on how he had formed a bond with the girl.

_He knew she loved pudding. Yata could tell by the way she unpackaged the little cups of the dessert he brought her._

_On this current day, he was sitting across from her at the table in the kitchen. On the table itself, in front of the pretty child was a very elegant white ceramic saucer and a perfectly polished silver spoon._

_The dainty child carefully pulled the protective layer of foil from the top of the pudding cup. _

_With her little hands she placed the cup upside down on the saucer and with as much concentration as she could muster, she pressed down on the underside of it with a very, very soft grunt._

_Immediately, the pudding slid from its container._

_Anna carefully removed it to reveal a perfect flower shaped dessert that was topped with caramel syrup._

_Yata felt as though he had been observing some meticulous little animal do something constructive. He had been a bit confused as to why he would think like that about Anna but then again, white hair and large eyes that sometimes reflected red did make Anna seem like a little rabbit._

_As he thought about it, she was really cute. He had seen times when Mikoto, Izumo and Tatara patted Anna on the head she blinked her large eyes at them just like a cute little animal_

_In fact, once Tatara had been so overcome by how adorable she was that he had hugged her tightly exclaiming, "Anna! Kawaii!"_

_However, Yata used to be nervous around her because first and foremost, she was a female._

_But then again he had no reason to worry about making an ass of himself in front of her since she had seen him totally and completely naked before. That had been when before she had become an official clansman. It seemed she had gone to use the bathroom and Yata had forgotten to lock the door._

_As soon as she opened it, there stood the teenage boy in all his naked glory._

_Anna had been the first female to see him naked since his mom (and that was because he hadn't even been old enough to scratch his own back properly back then)._

_That was a bit disturbing for the young man. _

_Normally he saw her as their clan's princess and he probably had almost as much respect for her as he did for Mikoto himself._

_However, after observing her this time, he found that what he was seeing was simply a child._

_A child who was satisfied with simply a small cup of pudding. _

_Yata decided that he had to remember to buy her more pudding. _

_Anna picked up her spoon._

"_Misaki," Anna said his name._

_He looked at her._

_She blinked. "Thank you."_

_Yata somehow managed to smile. Really, she was just a little girl. _

"_It's alright," he told her._

_She nodded and pressed the spoon into her pudding in order to take a big chunk. _

_Yata decided that he wanted to see her be more happy like that-with simple things in life so he would buy more pudding for her and they would eat it together. _

"I guess I learned to remember that she was really just a child when she came to us," Yata responded to Emi's question.

Emi suddenly tiptoed and kissed his cheek, making him blush.

"W-What was that for?" he asked in surprise.

Emi smiled at him. "Because you're a very sweet guy, Misaki."

* * *

The town of Seneca was one in which the most elite resided. Children of the most wealthy worked menial jobs here for the sake of learning some independence, humility and appreciation for those who were not as privileged as they were and had to do these same jobs as a means of survival.

Odd characters were not viewed as strange in Seneca.

No; if anyone seemed to be different from the normal residents, they were considered to be _eccentric_.

After all, 'weird' was not really a term applied to the rich.

That was why when a group of tall, handsome men walked through the streets, they were not seen as yakuza.

In fact, they might have been considered a possible famous pop group.

Or maybe the dangerous red haired guy was really the singer and the rest of guys walking with him were his entourage.

Perhaps the tallest man with the light blond hair and purple sunglasses was their manager.

Even the chubby one seemed kind of cute.

And there was a handsome man with bright yellow hair. He was a foreigner wasn't he?

What about the short one?

Wasn't that the famous Yatagarusu?!

Indeed, this must be a very popular group of men!

The girls who passed them on the streets were wary of the men. After all, even though they were were being misunderstood as some famous guys, these people really the most powerful members of the most violent clan in Shizume City. They did give off a dangerous vibe that sort of warned people to keep away.

However, this didn't stop the females from blushing at the good-looking bunch.

"It's this way," Izumo said as they turned around a corner. The architecture of Seneca was indeed lovely with cobbled streets for only people to walk and some rather vintage looking shops. The snow on rooftops and the sides of the pavements only added to the beauty of the location.

"She's working right now, isn't she?" Yata questioned.

Mikoto grunted around his cigarette in response.

Currently, it was only Mikoto, Izumo, Eric, Yata and Kamamoto walking through the streets of Seneca together.

Some of their other guys were there too-Bando, Shouhei, Dewa and Fujishima.

However, they were patrolling the streets in a solo fashion for any information on Takeshi Sadao.

Mikoto knew the way to the maid cafe. He had gone there before with Anna.

He stopped walking as they neared for he recognized the place.

It was a separate building from all the others. The front of the building had full glass windows to ensure that it was easy to view inside.

From what they could see, it seemed that the cafe was not too busy today. A family of four was leaving through the door and Mikoto recognized Kei as he bid the customers farewell. His actions and clothing did make him seem to be a very professional butler.

"Look, there's Anna!" Yata exclaimed excitedly.

It was only a vague sight of her because of the images of food placed on display at the front window. However, there was no mistaking that the young woman was Anna.

After all, who else had such richly textured white colored hair that was that length?

They saw her bow and walk away, ending their sight of her.

* * *

Sayuri had received a call from Ryosuke Natsume earlier, questioning Anna Kushina's work hours. She did not give out information on her employees to just anyone. She knew Ryosuke on a personal level but the only reason why she gave him the information was because he was Anna's school principal and while Anna, or any students of Seneca resided in the Town, she was required to give the schools' administration information on them.

"Some of Anna's family are coming to visit the cafe. I'll give you their description when they come in. Please look out for them and have her greet them," Ryosuke had instructed.

"Of course," was Sayuri's response.

She was also quite curious about her employee's family.

Perhaps they were a bunch of good looking people who she could potentially loop in to work for her. After all, Anna or rather 'Sumiko' was the cool, classic beauty at her cafe.

Ryosuke's description of Anna's relatives were 'a group of people who can either stand out as a group of thugs, or a group of pop icons'.

Sayuri had spotted such people coming in and she hurried to get Anna.

* * *

Kei's brother, JJ was hired not only for his looks but because he was quite skillful at making desserts. He produced beautiful parfaits and chocolate cakes.

And the girls wept at the sight of his cheesecakes.

Ah, indeed, the man had looks and skills that the female population longed to have in their significant other.

He was also an undeniable flirt.

"Anna, such a beautiful princess you are. Perhaps I can take you out later and give you the royal treatment you deserve," had been his attempt at flattery when she had first met him in person earlier today.

Anna, already emotionally over-wrought behind that mask of a cool face simply walked away. Kei had had to warn JJ away from her.

Anna came in to pick up some desserts that JJ was making.

She heard him softly humming in a very soothing voice.

Anna paused at the counter where he was crafting a parfait.

He had just placed a cherry at the top when he saw her looking at him.

He smiled brightly at her.

"Anna-hime! I apologize for earlier but you truly are beautiful!"

Anna blinked at him.

He seemed to realize that she had ignored his words.

"Anna?"

"Do you sing often?" she questioned.

He grinned. "Sometimes I do. I used to sing to Kei when he was little, just for him to sleep away."

"Is that so?"

JJ nodded. "I think is your order, isn't it?"

"Ah...yes it is," she responded and picked it up.

JJ had just reminded her of the way Tatara used to hum as he did chores.

_She could vividly recall Tatara humming as he poured some juice in a cocktail glass for her. He added a cherry to the glass, paused in his humming then gave a thoughtful, "Ah!" before he searched around for a straw. He returned to his melodic tune when he chose an odd looking straw that was pink and twisted in all directions. _

_"See, it's pretty!" he told Anna. _

_"A pretty disaster," Izumo corrected beside him. _

_"Now, Now Kusanagi-san. I am quite sure this straw adds class to it."_

_"You wouldn't know class if it hits you on the head," Izumo retorted and added a small umbrella to the cocktail glass._

_"Now it looks like a pile of junk!"_

_"It does not!"_

_Anna let out a sigh. Izumo often claimed that his clansmen were like a bunch of unruly brats._

_Realistically, there were times when he and Tatara were not that much different from them. Anna really just wanted her juice right now. _

_"Tatara," Anna voiced his name._

_He turned his attention to her with a warm smile. "Yes, Anna?"_

_"Are you going to sing the song you made?"_

_Tatara's face lit up. He did often hum and sing while doing chores. Anna liked to sit around and listen to him. He could tell that she was often pleased by his tunes. _

_"For you, I will!"_

_And he began to sing as he continued to do his work around the bar. Anna listened, as did Izumo. _

Tatara had been dead for a few years, but the memory of him was still etched into Anna's heart and mind.

As Anna headed out the door, Akemi stopped her. "I'll take care of your order. Sayuri-san wants you to greet the customers coming in."

Anna was surprised but obeyed nonetheless.

She gave a polite bow to certain customers who called her out until she arrived at the front doors. Kei grinned at her and she was a little confused as to why he seemed to be almost smirking.

Then he opened the door.

And she understood.

* * *

"_Okaerinasaimase, goshujinsam_a," was the greeting they got from their princess.

It was the first time they had ever seen her in her maid uniform and no one could deny that Anna looked incredibly beautiful.

The uniform was a deep, rich red. It had ruffled edges, puffed sleeves and it fell short just about mid thigh. The rest of her legs were clad in white stockings and without a doubt, Anna had really long, shapely legs.

She wore on a red apron, a little maid hat on her head and thick hair was combed out so that it fell just past her gently rounded backside.

Mikoto and his clansmen were in a bit of awe at Anna's level of professionalism; she had not even blinked at their presence here.

She had not smiled, faltered or shown any emotion of the sort. She had simply greeted them as if they were strangers in order to welcome them into the cafe.

No one would think that she had lived with these people for the nearly more than half her life.

Sayuri suddenly appeared as Anna straightened up. "This is Sumiko," she explained to them. "And she will be your maid today."

"_Sumiko_?" Yata and Kamamoto repeated.

"It's her maid cafe name, isn't it?" Izumo said. He recalled Anna saying that Mikoto had told her to name her daughter that and that coincidentally, it was the same as her maid cafe name. Izumo wondered what Mikoto might be thinking.

_He probably isn't too surprised because 'Sumiko' has to do with purity and Anna does look pure with her white hair and pale skin_, the bartender thought.

Sayuri, smiling happily, nodded. "Yes. I gave it to her when she first came in here. Now I'll leave you to her."

Anna bowed to the owner who disappeared.

"Will there be anyone else joining you?" she questioned them.

Anna was always polite.

She had always been the most polite person out of everyone in the clan.

However, they knew the difference between her politeness to them and her politeness to strangers. Right now, Anna was treating them like strangers.

"Uh...no. It's just us," Izumo answered.

Anna nodded and led them to a booth in the back that had enough space to fit in six people. She handed them their menus.

"What can I bring you to drink?"

Izumo and Mikoto sat opposite to each other. Kamamoto shared Mikoto's seat while Yata and Eric shared Izumo's.

"Hey Anna, aren't you being really cold?" Yata questioned.

"It is my personality given to me by the cafe to be the cool, level-headed maid. I do not change myself for my customers, no matter who they are," was her very formal response.

Everyone was a bit surprised at her words.

Mikoto looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

"What a way to treat your family who came all the way over from Shizume City?" Izumo remarked in an attempt to make the atmosphere more relaxed. It had become very strained and he couldn't tell if it was because of his clansmen or if it was because of Anna, or if it was both.

In a very frosty tone of voice, Anna stated, "Izumo didn't come here to see me. You have business with Natsume-sensei and you decided to drop in since you are in the area,"

That was almost like hitting the nail on the head. They did come to investigate Anna, and because they had been requested to do a job for the Natsume family as Anna had been quick to catch up on. Yet, she was right-they would never have come to Seneca just to see her unless they happened to be around.

It sounded like they were really awful people.

Mikoto let out a quiet snort. "Is that so, _Sumiko-san_?"

Her attitude was irritating him. Even if she was supposed to be the one with the cool attitude-the unfazed person played to attract a certain type of customers, Mikoto did not believe for one second that that had anything to do with the very cold manner that she was displaying toward them.

Anna ignored his words.

"Shall I give you a few minutes to decide on your orders?" she asked them.

As the others were dumbfounded by her manner toward them, they nodded.

Except for Mikoto who just quietly observed how she bowed so gracefully before walking away.

"Kusanagi-san, Mikoto-san...is Anna upset?" Kamamoto questioned.

He was stunned by her behavior.

This was not an Anna they were accustomed to.

The Anna they knew was yes, quiet and polite but she was sweet inside. She was warm and she loved to be among them and she even smiled sometimes.

But this Anna was cold, frozen inside.

She wasn't even like the child they had met several years ago who had been afraid and suffering inside.

No, this Anna seemed to have some underlying hostility. She was bearing some kind of animosity and she was using that excuse of the 'cool polite Sumiko' to cover it up.

Who was this girl?

Where was their sweet, adorable princess?

"Kusanagi-san, Mikoto-san! Trouble! Look!" Yata hissed and pointed out to a nearby table.

Not many people would notice because of the subtle way Anna was sorting out the matter.

It seemed that some men were sexually harassing one of the waitresses. Izumo realized that this had to be Akemi. He remembered the pretty blue eyed girl who had been Anna's friend.

It seemed that one of the guys were reaching out to touch her when Anna had passed by.

Anna grabbed his wrist.

"Please refrain from touching our maids, sir," Anna told him quietly.

The man laughed. "You're a pretty one too, girly. Why don't you an your friend hand some fun with us?"

Yata wanted to get up and punch the guy but Izumo caught his shoulder and pressed him down, silently telling him to shut up and stay put.

Anna's grip on the man's wrist tightened in a threatening manner. Although her expression did not seem to change, somehow she was giving the man the impression that she was not a person to mess with.

"Our maid cafe is not a brothel. Please leave," she requested of him.

The man sensed that she was dangerous, that she was someone who could probably hit him hard enough to cry for his mother.

He therefore nodded quickly and Anna let go of his hand. The man proceeded to drop some cash on the table and hurry away.

"It seems Anna really knows how to handle herself," Izumo remarked.

Yata and Kamamoto nodded.

Mikoto didn't say anything.

However, he did pull out a cigarette. Just as he was about to light it, it was snatched away from his mouth.

He looked up to see Anna standing there. "I apologize, but there is a no smoking sign on the front door," she explained with that blank expression on.

Mikoto's golden eyes remained on her for a moment longer.

He giving her this lazy look that made her wonder what he was thinking. Anna was very much aware that her clansmen were taking note that there was something off about her but that wasn't really where the focus of her mind was right now.

At this moment she was angry with them as well as herself. She was vexed with herself because she had told herself that she would make an effort to try to be better, but as soon as those five men walked through the door, her temper suddenly blazed at them.

For one thing, she knew they hadn't made an effort to come see her just because they actually wanted to. The pain of loneliness she had felt for so many months, the neglect and the isolation from these people who she considered to be her own family seemed to have gathered into one ball and hit her hard on the head at the sight of them. It just made her feel enraged. After all, wasn't that basically like them saying, 'we don't have time for you, and we're just here because we're in the area but otherwise we wouldn't have come to visit you'.

Seriously, that was really insulting and the thing was that those idiots who she loved so much didn't even realize how upsetting it was for her. She was trying to get a reign on her feelings because she didn't want to be selfish. She didn't want to be a demanding brat but it did not change the fact that she felt hurt.

Still, it wasn't fair that she get angry over their ignorance if they were not even aware of how they had hurt her. She knew she had to talk to them and get this over with. It would be a strange topic to speak about but she would ask Izumo, question what everyone was doing and why it was they were never around when she came home.

Depending on what those answers were, she would decide what to do with her future.

Anna also had a feeling that her clan's presence in Seneca might have something to do with Takeshi because the Natsume family basically ran Seneca Town and they were very intolerant of drug activities going on in their area.

Having Homra involved also gave Anna the impression that Takeshi just might be more dangerous than she thought.

That wasn't going to stop her from going after him.

She had something to prove to herself...and to her clansmen.

She wanted to show them that she was not weak.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked them.

They did. Most of them ordered ice cream sodas. Izumo wanted a cinnamon latte while Mikoto took regular coffee.

Anna disappeared to give JJ their orders.

A short time later, she returned with their drinks and calmly lay each one in front of its designated owner.

"Would you like anything else?" she asked.

"What time is your shift ending?" Izumo queried.

"In a few minutes," was her answer.

"Perhaps you'd like to join us," Izumo invited.

"I'm sorry but I have something else to do," she told him, shocking everyone. She bowed politely and left before they could say anything else.

Mikoto, however, kept his eyes on her as she walked off.

"Maybe she had a bad day?" Yata said. Kamamoto couldn't seem to be able to shut his mouth while Eric gazed after her, looking a little sad. Really, what had happened to their princess?

None of them really understood. Izumo wanted to talk to Anna more about this but he had knew that Yata, Eric and Kamamoto might starting asking more questions that would cause a scene.

Not wanting to embarrass her in any way, Izumo decided that speaking to her when she finished work was the better option.

He shared a look with Mikoto.

By hook or by crook they were going to get Anna to talk to them.

* * *

"You were really cold toward them," Akemi said in the locker room. Both girls' shift had just finished.

Anna didn't say anything as she pulled on her black sweater from reached inside the locker and got out a black leather jacket.

Akemi knew that outfit.

She knew that jacket.

She knew those black combat boots.

Anna was definitely going after Takeshi.

The blonde girl quickly shrugged on her blouse and followed Anna to the kitchen. JJ was not there. He had gone out in front to take over for Kei whose shift had also ended.

Akemi caught Anna's shoulder.

"Anna, stop."

The girl obeyed.

"I know something's wrong. Won't you talk to me?"

"I will. When I come back," Anna promised. She was going to talk to everyone after but she just needed to do this for herself.

Akemi slowly removed her hand. "Then let me come with you."

Anna turned around and gave her friend a carefully blank look. "No," she denied her.

Akemi scowled then. "Why won't you take me?"

"It's dangerous."

"It's dangerous for you but you're still going! Anna, you're making a rash decision based on your emotions! And that's one of the dumbest things you could ever do!" Akemi snapped.

Anna didn't show any outward reaction.

Kei came in then. "Why are you looking so angry, Akemi?" he wanted to know. After all, it was the first time since the two girls became friends that Kei saw Akemi looking so teed off.

"Kei, this idiot is going after Takeshi. Stop her or I will go with her, and I don't care what either of you have to say!" she threatened.

Kei looked stunned. "Huh? Anna?" He gave turned his attention to the white haired girl. "Anna, that's stupid. Your family is here to see you. Why don't you stay a bit with them?"

"No."

Kei scowled then. "Don't be stupid!"

"If you go, I'll go!" Akemi declared.

Kei grabbed Akemi's arm and pulled her close to him. "Don't be an idiot too! You're staying right here! Anna, if you go I will tell Mikoto-san and Kusanagi-sensei exactly what you are doing."

Anna folded her arms and with a perfectly cold expression she said to him, "I have never demanded anything from either you or Akemi. This is the one time I will: let me do what I want,"

Kei was surprised.

Anna had just thrown a guilt trip on them.

"Anna-" he began, but the girl was already walking off, not caring about what either of her friends had to say.

Because Anna had a goal in mind.

She was doing something stupid and she knew it.

But she was operating based on her emotions.

And that was stupid too.

She _knew_ it was stupid.

But she didn't care.

Her goal was to prove that she was a strong person to herself and to clansmen.

So they wouldn't leave her out anymore.

So they would know she was strong enough to come back home.

That she didn't need to hide out in Seneca anymore because of their flimsy excuses.

This was what she was going to do regardless of what anyone else thought or felt.

"Are we just going to let her go?" Akemi asked Kei who still had a protective arm around her. Kei's eyes remained on their departing friend.

"No. We're going to have to tell Mikoto-san."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for reading.**

**The parts with Anna's power came from the novel.**

**Anna is having some interesting dreams!**

**Thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and reviewed this story. **

**For those who reviewed:**

_**Indochine: Yes, she was bounty hunting. It was mentioned in chapter 2 of this story how she got the bruise etc. I'm really sorry to hear that things are like that for you. I also know how it feels and it's not a feeling I would like for anyone else to have. For me, I learned that the only one who I could ever truly rely on is God because people have let me down a lot in my life. I hope things improve for you and no matter how tough things may get for you, keep thinking positively about yourself. I am sure you are a very beautiful person on the inside. I think that I recall you saying that you were studying to be a nurse. To me, that job requires a lot of bravery because of the people you would be taking care of. My point is that I think you're a really great person and that even if you feel a bit down and left out, don't ever take out any negativity about your situation on yourself. Keep doing things to make your life better and make yourself feel good :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, God bless you my dear :)**_

_**magicalnana: 'Boner' is a slang term for the erection of a man's penis. There's no other way I can state it. This means that when Anna and Mikoto kissed, Mikoto got sexually aroused ;) **_

_**DBerryNia: I'm glad you liked the playing house part! You probably don't have to bother too much with YataxEmi after this. This may be the only chapter she has an appearance in unless I see a need for her plot-wise or fluff-wise :D Something will definitely happen with Anna and you'll understand when it does;) Hope you enjoy the novel! I'm glad your sleeping hours aren't affected :)**_

_**LindyLinn: I'm glad you liked that section of the chapter, and the rest of it as well! Hope this one is to your liking as well :)**_

_**FragileBlueButterflies: I'm happy that you are :)**_

_**LadyCassie: Your dog sounds like a sweetheart! Your welcome and I hope you and your dog are doing great (give him a pat for me) :)**_

_**AngelGirl0200: That's alright that you reviewed as a guest, it's just that sometimes more than one person may review as 'guest' so I have a hard time figuring out who is who. Anyway, I'm happy that you sound so excited! Makes me excited too! XD**_

_**Mandy Lestrange: You're welcome and thank you for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)**_

_**lemonzsayzrawr1: I'm glad you did :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: Yes, she definitely sounds like she's going to get in trouble again! I'm glad that you told me you were a bit confused about that because I needed to know if it explain it again. I already have the perfect opportunity planned out to do so. It will be in a future chapter, probably in about two chapters or so. I hope that explanation would help you understand :) I'll also look for an opportunity to put in the scene with Mikoto as the baby :)**_

_**nannerlovessnickers: FREEDOM! AWESOME! Lol. I'm really happy to know that you look forward to my updates so much :)**_

_**manga-life: Thanks for the compliment about the chapter. I really appreciate it :)**_

_**creativeactive: That means a lot to me that you said that. I mean, I don't like that you feel sad and lonely but it does please me that that is the impression you were left with. **_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: I'm happy that you enjoyed the first part of the story. I think that I've probably made you more suspenseful with this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it :)**_

_**Flower 117: You'll learn about the guys' reactions soon ;) I started this fanfic because not a lot of stuff with these two existed out there. There's probably more stuff on Anna and Mikoto in the official stuff (like the stories and the manga) than in the fandom itself. I'm glad you tried my story, and I'm glad I started writing it too. Thanks so much for your compliment! I will write more on Chitose and Maria's baby if I see the need plotwise. I am thinking about doing another sequel to this story but it would not have a serious plot. It might probably be some drabble. If I do make the sequel, their son will definitely be in it :)**_

_**xNightDreamerx: I actually have another plan for Anna concerning the situation with Takeshi but you do have a nice idea ;)**_

_**narwhals: Hi there, and thanks so much for your review! I enjoyed reading it! I'm pleased that you like this story so much! Anna and Mikoto really do have an interesting relationship. I really fell in love with them since I started reading the manga which came out before the anime I think. It really means a lot to me to know that you enjoyed both parts of this story so much. I'm pleased that you found that I had developed Anna and Mikoto's relationship well. I'm sorry you have such painful periods and I hope the pills help you. I think we all would love our own 'Mikoto heating pad'! You'll understand Takeshi's role soon :) About the citrus stuff...you might notice I tend to shy away a bit from it at times. I'm not comfortable writing lemons although I am still considering it. If I do, they will not be graphic. About the masturbation idea I actually did consider it. Almost exactly that with Mikoto walking in, but I came up with something else ;) Thanks for your ideas, and I don't consider you a perv in any kind of way :)**_

_**Arius the Heretic: How are you? It really has been a while! I'm pleased you liked the fluffiness and the humor, as well as the kiss. Don't worry, I have grand plans for Mikoto-san and Anna-chan ;)**_

_**AndieVC: I'm glad you're keeping warm. I got sick earlier this year because of an awful flu that was going around during winter. It's very rainy for me right now, but also a lot warmer. I'm glad about that! Just how low do the temperatures reach in Queensland? **_

**Thanks again, and until my next update, God bless :)**


	11. Caught

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 11: Caught**_

"_It's no longer needed in that place...and I think it's because it's a strain,"_

_Mikoto knew the small child sitting atop the horse well enough to understand the compassion she felt for the creature. She could sympathize so well that animal._

_However, he didn't want her getting any weird thoughts in her head like herself possibly no longer being wanted in Homra someday. It was her home with him, Tatara, Izumo and the rest of their rowdy clansmen._

_So, he reached out and grabbed her by the back of her dress the way a lion would do to its cub._

"_You're satisfied now, aren't you?"_

_Anna was their princess; she belonged with them._

* * *

It didn't matter to Anna that Mikoto and the others were going after Takeshi as well. They would find out eventually anyway when she told them what she had been doing for nearly two years without their knowledge or consent.

However, that did not mean that while she was carrying out her task, she wanted them to discover her and get in her way. In order for her to get away with it, she would need a proper disguise.

A disguise meant more that just a wig to cover her hair, or make up to change her skin tone: it also meant a change in personality. If she acted in a way that was completely 'unAnna-like', then it would be possible for her to fool them.

Anna was currently a bubbly redhead with tanned skin who was driving her motorcycle through the streets of Seneca.

Her marbles were safely tucked away in her jeans pocket. She had used them after going home to change in order to locate Takeshi. She had also contacted Satoshi to find out more on him.

This is what she knew: there were individuals in Seneca who were willing to purchase heroin. Not just any kind of heroin-high quality heroin. In other words, it would be trafficked as a powder.

A very pure white powder.

Takeshi's link to getting the heroin into Seneca was through a restaurant/nightclub owner by the name of Chiyo Goro. Anna knew of Goro. He was a handsome man with a snake-like personality. His black hair was always slicked back and combed neatly.

He was slim and always properly attired in a suit.

He had come into the maid cafe a couple of times and the way he looked at both Anna and Akemi made them feel disgusted.

He had been under investigation before as someone had tipped off the police that he was associated with a drug ring about two years ago. However, no evidence was found with his involvement.

Maybe it was stupid of him to get caught up in drugs due to the previous accusation, but people did do stupid things just to get more money into their hands.

Kei had not given Anna a lot of information on Takeshi as he had not wanted her to go after him. However, when she had still been in Shizume City, both he and Akemi had done some investigating of their own as they were going to hand it into the police and get the reward for providing the information. They had collaborated with Satoshi and therefore it was he who had given Anna the results of their investigation. Satoshi was also the one who had some inside information about Goro and Takeshi knowing each other. That was what Kei and Akemi had worked with when doing their investigations.

What they had discovered after planting bugs in Goro's restaurant was that Takeshi would supposedly be dining at Goro's restaurant. The real purpose of his presence there was because Goro was actually purchasing the heroin from him. He already had a list of customers in Seneca who were willing to buy the drugs. It would arrive in a truck but would be hidden in the guise of rice flour.

What Anna had to do was get the evidence of their activities, then she would beat up Takeshi, hand him in and the evidence and after a bit of processing, she would get the reward. Of course she was going to split it with Akemi, Kei and Satoshi. They had done a great deal of work after all.

* * *

"Mikoto-san, I need to speak with you!" Kei declared.

It had taken all of Kei's courage to approach the scary looking man. Even Akemi was terrified of him for she hid behind Kei, looking on nervously. This Mikoto was even more frightening than the the fourteen year old boy they had met in Middle School.

Mikoto looked at Izumo, who nodded. He slid out of his booth and Eric and Yata stood up.

"Would this, by any chance have to do with Anna going after Takeshi Sadao?" Izumo asked.

Kei was stunned. He and Akemi looked at each other, then snapped their attention at the group of men at the table.

"Y-you know?" Akemi whispered.

Izumo pulled out a cigarette.

"Let's go," Mikoto said.

"Go?" Akemi squeaked.

The tall man stood up, towering over the two teenagers. He didn't look like he was angry, but he was very intimidating.

Akemi clutched Kei's jacket tightly.

"You wanted to talk, didn't you?"

* * *

Black ash fell from the cigarette and onto the pure white snow.

Mikoto inhaled once more and blew out a puff of smoke. He leaned against the wall at the side of the building where it was empty of anyone, save for Anna's two friends and his second in command.

Izumo stood a short distance away. Yata, Eric and Kamamoto had disappeared.

"Anna was upset," Kei told Mikoto. No one had spoken since coming outside a minute ago. Kei was silently thankful that JJ had gone to the back of the restaurant to clean up the kitchen, otherwise he would have wanted to know what was going on.

"Is that so?" Mikoto murmured.

Kei was disturbed by Mikoto's nonchalant manner about the situation.

He knew this man was scary.

He knew he could crack his head like an eggshell.

But that didn't stop his angry outburst, "Aren't you worried that something could happen to her? She's gone after a dangerous man!"

Akemi grabbed Kei, frightened for him as she knew knew the red haired man had a violent temper. Anna had always had good thoughts on this man but both Akemi and Kei had known of his short temper from when he was at the age of fourteen. There was no telling how much worse it was at the age of an adult.

In response, Mikoto grabbed Kei by the collar, making him and Akemi gasp.

Mikoto's golden eyes gleamed.

He removed the cigarette from his mouth. However, he didn't raise his voice in any kind of way when he spoke. In a tone that was rough, he asked Kei, "Why didn't _you_ stop her?"

"She wouldn't listen!" Akemi said then. Her blue eyes were watery as she looked at the man her best friend loved so much. "Do you have idea what's wrong with her? She came home miserable today. Anna, of all people was showing that she was upset about something. What happened? She went back to you guys and then she returns to us all messed up! What did you do?" she demanded.

Akemi was quite sure she was treading on thin ice here with the way she was speaking to this man.

However, she did not truly think he would hurt her. She had seen gentleness in the way he had handled Anna when he had been somehow changed to the age of fourteen and had spent two weeks in Seneca. He was indeed very frightening even back then, but when he was with Anna, he had been different.

He had been grumpy and gruff while being gentle which was almost...sweet. Akemi was quite certain he was concerned about Anna, and she was as well. She loved Anna like a sister and she knew how much Mikoto meant to her her friend.

She also was very much aware that the more one cared for another, the more they had the ability to hurt you. Therefore, she was quite certain that Anna's strange behavior from earlier on could be attributed to something this man or the rest of his clansmen had done. Maybe she was being unfair in demanding what they had done to Anna, but Akemi herself was not pleased.

To the blond haired girl, she felt that Anna was someone who did not deserve to feel such distress.

Especially when it came from people who Akemi knew that the quiet girl loved deeply.

Mikoto let Kei go. He folded his arms as he turned his attention to Akemi. "Where was she this morning?"

"She went to get her motorcycle license."

Mikoto blinked when she said that. He and Izumo looked at each other.

"Motorcycle license?" they repeated together.

Akemi and Kei nodded.

"Mikoto, do you think this morning-?" Izumo began.

"Yeah," Mikoto replied. Anna might have wanted him to come with him to get her license. What he didn't understand though, was why she would get _this_ upset over him not coming. He knew that she probably got a bit annoyed with him, but he didn't think that that was enough to have her so distressed that her best friend claimed she was actually displaying her feelings.

Something else was wrong with Anna.

"Anna already has a bike. It's a red Suzuki," Kei continued. He didn't care anymore about hiding anything. Anna's safety was of utmost importance.

"She's already heading to Chiyo Goro's restaurant. That's where Takeshi is. If she wants to get the full reward, she has to present evidence of his activities."

"Does she know anything about the strain?" Izumo asked.

"Strain?" Akemi and Kei chimed, clearly confused.

Izumo let out a sigh. "Ah, this has become troublesome. Mikoto?"

Mikoto shrugged. "Take care of these brats," he ordered and calmly walked away, turning a corner that went to the direction of Goro's restaurant.

"Is he going after her?" Kei asked Izumo.

"Yes."

"Doesn't he need directions?"

"No. Mikoto will find Anna, don't worry."

* * *

Goro's restaurant was a building with three floors. The top floor was the dance area, normally opened up on Fridays and weekends for the nightclub goers. The first and second floors were dining areas. Anna was sitting on the balcony of the second floor, overseeing back of the building. On the ground below was the supposed rice flour transport truck. Men were pulling out large white sacks.

Takeshi was standing there with Goro. Takeshi had dark brown hair and very deep lines on his face. Like Goro, he wore on a proper suit.

One of the men offloading the items opened up one of the sacks. It revealed a very pure white powder. Anna used the camera in her hand to zoom in and snap pictures of it.

She wished that she could get closer but she didn't think she would be able to. Thankfully, before anyone had arrived, she had planted a recording device under the lid of the trashcan outside. It was a very high tech on she and her friends had invested in because it could pick up sounds from a large distance away.

There were excited noises between Takeshi and Goro. Goro was obviously impressed with the fine quality of the heroin.

After all the sacks were loaded inside, the truck drove off.

Takeshi and Goro headed back inside.

Anna was about to go down to the first floor and confront Takeshi when, to her shock, she saw three people jump the black vehicle from the back.

Anna nearly cursed. She would recognize Kamamoto's red anywhere-it was bigger than the other's. Yata pulled out his bat and slammed it into the truck's windscreen smashing it.

Goro and Takeshi were inside already and therefore would not know what was going on. There was too much noise within the building itself to actually know what was going on outside.

Anna knew Mikoto had to be around here somewhere.

She needed to get to Takeshi before he or any of the others did.

* * *

It was like the strain was invisible for Mikoto did not see him at all. However, he could hear him. Tiny movements they were, swift and cutting through the air and that was how Mikoto knew to use his fiery power and make a red flaming barrier when several spikes shot out at him and his men.

The spies hit the burning shield, turning them to ash. The strain would have obviously become surprised, then afraid.

Like a lion, Mikoto could smell fear on the strain, his prey.

Mikoto snorted.

This strain was dangerous. He was also very speedy. There was no way his clansmen were going to be able to handle the guy on their own especially if the strain shot out poison needles.

They could deal with this guy at another point in time. Instead, he signaled for Yata to contact Shouhei and Bando who were in their red van which was fully equipped with computers, capable of tracking people. The pair were monitoring the town and Mikoto would have them track the strain.

Mikoto also knew it was running away but he didn't have time to handle this situation himself.

He was going to deal with Anna.

* * *

The third floor was where all the dancing was.

Monday nights were not usually dancing nights.

Not unless the owner had something to celebrate.

The room was dark save for the lights that flashed through the room as the DJ spun some wicked tunes.

Goro was a filthy man but he knew how to make money. The décor of his third floor fit that of a high class nightclub.

It was fully furnished with leather couches and expensive tables in the sitting area. There were also private areas that even had its own designated body guard.

The room was filled with well dressed, classy looking men and women.

Goro was sitting in one area with beautiful, long legged women crawling all over him as a celebration of good business with Takeshi.

Takeshi sat nearby with a drink in his hand. A woman was wrapped around his arm but he ignored her despite having a very satisfied smile on his face.

Indeed, he was like the cat who got the milk because he had just gotten a sweet deal with Goro. He was quite sure they would do business again soon.

Best of all, they hadn't gotten caught!

Takeshi was about to sip from his drink again when he saw a pretty young woman walk over to him. He could swear she was no more than eighteen, but to be up here she had to be at least twenty. What made this girl stand out was her clothing.

While other women dressed up sexily, this one had on jeans and a sweater.

As plainly as she was dressed, there was no denying that she was beautiful.

She put on a large, happy smile for him.

Goro grinned back.

Just who was this girl? The way she walked, the way she moved with that aloof look in her eyes made him think that she was certainly no ordinary woman.

Really, where did this person come from?

She walked over to him, much to his delight.

She smelled nice-like coffee and vanilla.

The girl leaned down and her red hair brushed his cheek.

What she whispered his ear made all those funny feelings inside of him disappear.

"Goro is scamming you. If you want to know the truth, follow me," she said to him.

Takeshi was not a person who liked hearing that a sweet business deal was actually sour.

Goro was distracted by the women who were climbing over him so it was easy for Takeshi to push away the female who was clinging to him and follow the red head at a safe distance.

But Takeshi was no fool either.

A beautiful girl in a town of the rich, carrying herself about like a wealthy person while wearing plain clothes was suspicious.

The moment they entered the room that led to the stairwell, Takeshi grabbed her arm.

Anna did not wince in pain from Takeshi's hold on her.

"Just who are you, honey?" he demanded.

Anna blinked at him. It wasn't hard for her to keep a neutral face on. After all, she was a pro at that.

"I have information for you on Goro that I think you would like to hear."

Takeshi's grip tightened. "Tell me now. We're all alone."

Anna reached out and slowly removed his hand from her.

"I would rather talk to you about this away from Goro's turf."

"Is this some kind of trap? I know the police are digging for evidence to send me to jail. Are you an undercover cop or what?"

Anna shrugged. "I know stuff the police don't know."

"Like what?"

"That Goro plans to open up a new business with the money he makes from selling the heroin."

Takeshi frowned. Goro mentioned that only to him in the kitchen of his restaurant the other day. The girl must have eavesdropped but Takeshi doubted it. He would have recognized her if she had come into the restaurant the other day. Goro was also careful when it came to police. He kept an eye out for any of them coming in to check on him.

The police, as far as Takeshi knew, were aware that he was in Seneca and they maybe they had assumed that he was here to sell drugs.

They did not know he was tied to Goro.

Takeshi decided that maybe he could trust this girl a little.

He nodded slowly and allowed for the young lady to lead him away. He agreed to follow her from a short distance to ensure that no one found them to be suspicious.

* * *

Yata had been stunned at what he had read about Anna from that report. Anna, the small child who he used to buy pudding for, was a bounty hunter?

What the hell?!

She was small, dainty and neat.

She was pretty, she was beautiful and she was the princess of their clan!

Where in the world did she get the idea to become involved in such dangerous activities?! This was unlike her!

This was _not_ the girl he knew.

And the lengths she went to hide it was even more stunning.

_Anna_ was capable of doing this.

She had been leading a somewhat double-life; she showed them the elegant side of herself as the young female clansman who they treated with almost as much respect as Mikoto. They considered her to be ultimately feminine and believed that she should always be protected.

Heck, they even went as bodyguards with her whenever she had to go to the mall when she was in Shizume City.

And now there was this side of her.

A side they did not know. Yata was currently the only other clansman aside from Izumo and Mikoto who had become aware of it and he was still in deep disbelief over it.

Their Anna was a bounty hunter who tracked down criminals, fought them, beat them up and had them dragged to the police station where she got huge sums of money as rewards for her activities. This Anna had the ability to keep that from the people who she grew up with as family.

It was like thinking you knew someone, and then something happens and you suddenly wonder just how much did you really know about them?

"Mikoto instructed you to just keep an eye on her. Don't intervene unless you think she needs help," Izumo ordered Yata.

Yata tsked. He still refused to believe that that red headed happy looking chick was their Anna.

* * *

As soon as Anna exited the side entrance of the restaurant with Takeshi which should have been empty, two tall muscular men grabbed her arms.

This did suprise her. She had not accounted for Takeshi's bodyguards being around.

However, her unpleasant shock was not shown her face. She merely gave Takeshi a blank look.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.

Takeshi chuckled.

"Am I an idiot? Do you honestly believe I would risking coming out here with you? If you really believe that Goro is betraying me, then you better spit it out now, or I'll have my men force you," he threatened.

Two didn't seem too bad. She could handle them and get away without any scratches.

What she didn't think she could manage was the other three men who were coming toward her. She was definitely going to get some bruises from this fight. Everything had been going so smoothly up to this point. Really, she hadn't thought things through enough because most of her mind had been a rioting mess of negative feelings.

Before Anna could react, a familiar voice shouted, "Hey, don't be cruel to girls!"

Yata's skateboard pitched out of nowhere with him on it and he landed directly on the man to her left.

Anna used that moment to slam her opposite foot into the other bodyguard's face.

Eric and Kamamoto appeared.

Anna cursed softly.

They were getting in her way!

Takeshi was already running away with his PDA in hand, already calling for back up.

But Anna would not be undone.

She ducked as one man aimed for her.

She knew Eric was behind her and he would handle him.

Her goal was Takeshi so she chased after him.

She did cartwheel and landed her feet into his back, slamming him to the ground.

He made a loud of pain.

However, more of guards, dressed in black, appeared to his sides, ready to fight with her for the sake of their boss.

One of them tried to kick her as she straddled Takeshi's back.

She lifted her arms in a defensive position and blocked.

The other man reached out to grab her but she moved away in time so that he ended up falling over Takeshi, making the criminal groan in pain from the impact of the bodyguard's extra weight.

The one who was still standing received a swift roundhouse kick, making him fall to the ground. The one who was on top of Takeshi got up, about to attack her again but Anna pulled out her taser and pressed it into his side.

After she zapped him, he crumpled to the ground beside his boss.

"Are you going to come with me?" Anna asked Takeshi with a huge smile on her face. She needed to look as little like Anna Kushina possible right now so that her clansmen didn't recognize her.

She deliberately switched the taser on and brought it close to his face.

Takeshi gave it a terrified look.

A motorcycle pulled up then. Anna knew it was Satoshi. Behind him in a black car was probably be two of his friends who would help take Takeshi in. Anna nodded to him and he did the same. His friends grabbed Takeshi by the arms and dragged him toward the car that Satoshi's friends had come in. Anna quietly informed Satoshi about the recording device to the back of the building that had all the evidence that would sink both Goro and Takeshi. She also handed him the camera.

Anna was also quite sure that there were some Homra members handling Goro himself right now. Well, he hadn't been her goal. It had been Takeshi and she got what she wanted.

Anna also made note to speak to Kei about forwarding some of the reward money to Homra's main account.

"Hey, we did some of your work you know!" Yata protested.

Anna needed to act all bubbly and airheaded now-everything she wasn't.

So, with a grand smile on her face she spun around, giggled like an idiot and exclaimed, "I'll make sure to send you some of the reward money! Peace out!" She lifted two fingers to make the 'peace sign', winked and hurried off.

Before any of the members of Homra could stop her, a roar of a motorcycle could be heard. They saw the girl on a red bike, following the car with with the two guys and Takeshi were in. A short time later, the black motorcycle followed.

"Are we just gonna let that girl go?" Kamamoto asked.

Yata was gazing after Anna as she drove off, obviously in disbelief that this girl was actually Anna.

Izumo was standing nearby with his arms folded. Really, were the rest of his clansmen that clueless? That girl was obviously Anna. The fighting moves she had used were the very same ones they had taught her!

* * *

Anna headed straight to her apartment. It was eleven already.

She was supposed to have had dinner with Yuki Natsume and her family. Obviously, it was too late now and there was no way she was waking up the family to have a late night snack with them.

Well, she could always explain tomorrow. She was quite sure she was going to get a really bad scolding from the woman who had cared for her during her middle school years. Not only for missing dinner with them, but her _reason_ for it.

A part of Anna dreaded how she was going to admit to her former principal what she had been up to, but she knew she had to stop hiding things. After her discussion with the older woman, she would decide what were her options for the future. The next step would be for her to talk to Izumo and come clean with him.

Anna had a sickening feeling in her stomach. She knew the bartender would not be pleased. He might even be in a state of disbelief! To think Anna was the girl who had beaten up a group of thugs and had sent their ringleader to the police was highly unimaginable!

Even if she was a significant part of the Red Clan and had practically grown up bounty hunting with them would still make it difficult for her guardian to absorb into his mind and accept.

There was a lot she needed to talk about and Anna knew she _needed_ to do so.

She was still thinking about this as she pulled up in front of her apartment. Motorcycles were common in the area. Hence, no one would really be disrupted by its noise as they were accustomed to it.

After parking her bike in the garage, Anna walked to the staircase to the side of building that led to the first floor of the two storey building where she and Akemi resided in the Town. The landlady had some nice shrubbery planted a few feet away from the staircase which grew into a hedge that reached Anna's shoulder. It was a strong plant because despite it being thickly laden with snow, it had not bent or lost its neat shape in any kind of way.

As she neared the staircase, one of her marbles slipped from a hole in her pocket. The tear might have happened during the fight.

It rolled to a stop at the foot of the staircase.

Anna released an irritated sigh and moved to pick it up. As she stooped down, she froze.

Anna felt a change in the atmosphere. It was very chilly outside but suddenly, it felt thick, and hot.

Anna knew this heat.

She swallowed hard, especially when a black boot appeared right in front of her marble.

She closed her eyes for a moment as she grasped hold of the marble. She wasn't prepared for this.

She wasn't prepared for _him_.

Then slowly, she gathered enough courage to trail her eyes upward, moving along the dark blue jeans that covered a pair of strong thighs.

_Out of everyone in Homra, Mikoto had the hardest legs. Anna knew this for she had sat down on his lap a few times before, and she had even fallen asleep with her head on his legs on occasion with the scent of tobacco around her. _

Anna's eyes moved to the white t-shirt and black jacket that hide the flat muscular chest she knew so well for she had spent years cuddled against that torso.

"_You were drooling," Mikoto informed her after shaking her awake._

_The girl blinked at him._

"_I was not drooling," she said to him as she moved to kneel at his side. _

_Mikoto shrugged with his arms behind his head. "There's a wet patch on my t-shirt."_

_The preteen's eyes flicked to the white material just above his breastbone._

"_I was not drooling," she insisted coolly. _

"_Ah? Then what do you think caused that?" Mikoto questioned. He wasn't really bothered by the drool. To be honest, he knew she was probably tired from helping Izumo downstairs in the bar earlier on and he wasn't too surprised that she slept so deeply that she had drooled on him. It wasn't that he was deliberately trying to embarrass her, it was just that he was curious to see how she would try to get out of this. _

"_Mikoto," she responded. _

_Mikoto blinked at her. "Me?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. Then, he lifted a hand and held the pale flesh of one cheek threateningly. He hadn't pinched her quite yet but he was warning her already that he would do it if she said something cheeky._

_And Anna did not hesitate to risk Mikoto's great pinch._

"_Mikoto's red is pretty and warm and my breath is cold. When my cold breath mixes with your warmth, it creates moisture," she replied._

_Mikoto stared at her for a long moment. Really, was this girl only thirteen? Thirteen year olds didn't speak like that. _

_Well, Anna wasn't a typical thirteen year old anyway...s__he probably had the mentality of a hundred and thirteen year old though._

_He didn't pinch her._

_However, he did shift his hand to her nose which he did deliberately give a small tug. _

_"You brat. There's nothing cold about your nose or your breath. Come here." he ordered gruffly and he pulled her down to him. Softly, he__ kissed her forehead._

_Then he cuddled her against the large expanse of his flat, comfortable chest. _

Anna's eyes finally arrived at the good-looking face of her favorite red headed man and they rested momentarily on his handsome mouth.

_Sweet kisses in a small room haunted her dreams. Kisses that were not affectionate ones on the cheeks or the forehead. No; these were of a different kind of tenderness-they were kisses on the mouth. Gentle kisses._

_Curious kisses._

_Nonetheless romantic kisses._

_But there was another kiss that she could not forget from this very same man. A deep kiss that could have gone on, had he had not pulled away._

Anna blushed slightly at the memory, but pushed away her thoughts when she suddenly took note of the way those thin lips curved upward.

She had expected to see Mikoto's angry expression.

_Not_ the smirk he saved only for formidable enemies or rivals-like Munakata Reisi. Although Anna could not see the actual color of his eyes, she did see the odd gleam in his them. No, this was not anger.

It was _amusement_.

There was no way that could be a good thing.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

***The opening scene is from one of the chapters from K: Memory of Red (Chapter 7), based on AquaScans translations. **

**Thank you also, for those of you who follow, favorite and review this story. Thanks so much.**

**For those who reviewed:**

**_lemonsaysrawz1: Thank you :)_**

**_xNightDreamerx: Thanks again for your review! I really appreciate your words :)_**

**_AngelGirl0200: I'm glad it made your weekend even more awesome!_**

**_DBerryNia: Maybe that dream might come true one day ;) I'm really glad you seemed to like the last chapter a lot, and that you consider Kei to be a good friend :)_**

**_manga-life: She certainly does have some interesting dreams :) _**

**_WithLoveAlways: I missed your reviews! I wondered what had happened to you! But I understand you were busy, hope you also make the time to relax :) I'm pleased you liked those scenes, especially the dream part. Isolation does hurt a lot, and it really is only human to become frustrated over things. You imagine JJ to be your kind of guy? Sounds good ;) I guess Anna's intentions and her stubbornness about it made Akemi frustrated. Akemi probably has a tendency to call people names when they frustrate her (that's why Kei gets it a lot) :) Anyway, I'm really happy to hear from you again! Take care my dear :)_**

**_creativeactive: That's a nice suggestion you have there! I'll consider it :) Thanks :)_**

**_Indochine: I love teasing you :p Well, she really did wind up in trouble for her stupidity and thankfully in this chapter the Homra guys were able to save her. Sorry, I mixed it up; I know you were doing something related to medicine but I couldn't quite recall. I still think studying to become a doctor is really amazing. I personally think it takes a lot of guts to look after sick people. That's why I really admire people in the medical field because I think it takes a lot of courage to have the willingness to care for others that way. Good luck with the exam, and whatever the result is, just remember that what's for you, is for you and whatever happens is meant to be. It is always good to have friends but for me they let me down really badly too. I guess it's just human for people to be that way and I don't hold a grudge against them. For me, I just try to stick really close to God because He's the only one who never let me down :)_**

**_LadyCassie: Oscar is a nice name. When you told me how he just puts his head on your lap and he slept away I just wanted to picture rubbing him and petting him. I love animals :) Anyway, the next chapter might answer how Anna reacts :)_**

**_uzumakikushina1012: Thanks so much for your lovely words! I truly appreciate them! _**

**_XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: I think I may have built up your suspense a little more! _**

**_Arius the Heretic: I can't blame you for wanting to smack them on the head! I try to keep the chapters shorter now because when I make them longer they tend to get a bit cumbersome and I miss too many errors. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)_**

**_Armadylon: I understand what you are telling me and thank you so much for pointing that out to me! It is actually an error on my part. I unintentionally ended up choosing first names for both the first names and family of my original characters. I really apologize for that. It's a bit too late for me to change it but I will remember what you have told me for any future characters I add in. For now, just consider that for all the original characters except for Takeshi, the names mentioned first are the first names (such as Kei, Aoi etc.) and the names mentioned second are the surnames (Junichi, Daichi etc.). 'Takeshi' is the family name for this one person (although realistically as you have pointed out, it is actually a first name). I appreciate you letting me know this, and your English is actually really good :)_**

**_LindyLinn: Yeah, she's being a bit rebellious because of how crazy her emotions are right now. 'Hinata'? You mean Mikoto? Dude, have you been watching Naruto? Hahaha don't worry I understand what you meant :) I'm also pleased that you liked the emi yata scene :)_**

**_Flower 117: I'm not really sure if they represent two opposite sides of Mikoto. I do remember reading something like that but I'm not sure if it was from that novel. I will double check it, but I have read elsewhere that the members represent something different in the organization of Homra itself. As you mentioned, Izumo is the brain, Tatara the heart, Anna the eyes and I think Mikoto is the spine of Homra. I can't quite recall and I'm not sure where the person who stated this got that information from. I'm glad you like Tatara and Izumo's relationship in this story. I'm not sure if they really were actually like that, but I like to think that they probably had some disagreements over Anna. My favorite friendship in Homra? That's a good question. I actually really like all of them. However, I think I like Tatara's friendship with everyone (not a specific person) the most. He was such a sweet guy! _**

**_laxus23: Thanks for the reviews and hope you enjoyed this chapter :)_**

**_princessforeveralone: Yes, Anna, in trouble...again! With Mikoto! Second year of High School? I'm sure it will be fun! I miss my High School days :/_**

**Thanks again, everyone. Until my next update, God bless :)**


	12. Tied Up

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: WARNING: This chapter has an adult situation in it. It is not a lemon, nor is it explicit but it is very, very suggestive (T to M Rating). Please read at your own discretion. Where you see this: (*****) marks the beginning of where it becomes very suggestive and there is another (*****) marking where it ends so you have opportunity to skip it. I know it is probably annoying but I will not be held accountable for what you choose to read especially if you are underaged. _**

**_I also apologize for the late update. This was actually a case of where I left such a big cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter that I tried too hard to make this chapter really epic, only to have it fall short of my own expectations, leading me to develop a writer's block. I actually wrote over this chapter about four times. Anyway, this is what I was able to come up with. Hope you enjoy it. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 12: Tied Up**_

_The baby seemed to remain enthralled by Anna. _

_The way his eyes never wavered from her face indicated that there was something about her that was intriguing to him. _

_Well, that shouldn't be too surprising for a newborn baby who would be fascinated by his ability to use this newfound sense of sight. _

_Anna was currently holding the baby once more before they left to go home. She was sitting at Maria's side and had a very tiny smile on her features as she looked at the little baby in her arms. _

_Maria was very good natured about her newborn son's liking toward Anna. To her, who did not have many relatives to turn to who would help her with the baby, having her child interact with Anna who she considered to be a little sister was a great honor for her._

_There was another whose eyes never strayed from the beautiful girl._

_Those were the topaz colored ones of the Red King. _

_He remained leaning against the wall with his hands shoved into his pockets. In his mouth was an unlit cigarette._

_Something flickered in those golden hues of Suoh Mikoto and Kusanagi Izumo realized that that was burning desire. He could almost see conflict flash briefly across the King's features, and as quickly as it had appeared it disappeared and once more Mikoto's eyes became shuttered, hiding what the his true inner thoughts were. _

_However, those few moments of Mikoto's slight change of expression were enough for Izumo. The bartender, ever the analytical one, summed up then just how much the great Red King was fighting off his desire for his princess._

Izumo lit a cigarette as he left the apartment of Anna's friend, Kei.

Indeed, the way Mikoto had fought off kissing Anna for too long on New Year's night had convinced the blond haired man that Mikoto's supernatural powers not the only thing that made him superhuman-it was the way he fought himself tooth and nail to remain hands off from their lovely princess.

As Izumo was Anna's guardian, he did want her to marry the best possible man. Mikoto, in Izumo's opinion, was the person best suited for his adopted child. Sure, the Red King was lazy, grumpy and liked to sleep all day.

But he would guard Anna and well.

The only problem Izumo had was the King's carnal desire for the girl that he was adamant about running from. Izumo was pleased that Mikoto would try to protect Anna from himself, but the fact that Izumo was technically Anna's parent, it also did not sit well with him. Like many real dads, Izumo did not particularly like the idea of his sixteen year old daughter having sex.

However, because he had once mentioned to Mikoto that he would let him marry Anna when she turned sixteen, Izumo preferred the idea that they married first.

After all, sexual desire was normal for most people, but it did not mean that they always had to act on it. A little restraint would be good for the pair.

At least until Izumo somehow got them together.

Izumo blew out a puff of smoke. That was going to be a difficult task.

* * *

"_Kei loves Akemi," Anna stated._

_Kei spat out some of his wine._

_Anna, who was sitting to his right, was silently drinking her own from the juicebox._

_Akemi, to Kei's left, was already a bit drunk as she leaned over the armrest, lazily sipping through the straw. She didn't seem to be paying much attention to her friends for she was half asleep. _

"_W-Why are you saying that?!" Kei demanded._

_Anna was also somewhat tipsy. "Huh? Because the man in the movie acts like you and woman acts like Akemi."_

_It was true: they were watching a romantic comedy about a man who loved pulling pranks and doing mean things to the woman while the woman pretended to hate him but secretly liked the things he did._

"_You are the sadist and Akemi is the masochist," Anna continued. _

_Kei paused. Then he asked carefully, "Anna, do you really know what sadists love doing to masochists?"_

_Anna pursed her lips slightly, as if thinking hard. _

_Then she shook her head in response to his question._

_Kei looked a bit thoughtful and glanced at Akemi._

_Then he smirked. "I'll show you. Why don't you bring that rope you girls use to hang your clothes on sometimes? I think I saw it in the closet."_

_Anna nodded and stood up._

_When she returned a moment later, she watched in a semi-drunken daze as Kei began to stretch out the long cord a bit, as if testing its strength. _

"_The sadist likes to be mean to the masochist although he secretly loves the masochist and the masochist secretly loves the meanness of the sadist."_

_Anna blinked. "Like you and Akemi?"_

_Kei paused. Then he turned to her and grinned. "I guess you could say that. We're just not together sexually."_

_Anna blinked. "Sexually? Why do you have that rope?"_

_She was certainly confused. When did she ever mention sex? _

"_I was going to-OUCH! What the hell, Akemi?!"_

_Akemi was glaring at him. "Who is that rope for? It better not be for Anna!"_

_Kei rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "Of course it's not for Anna, sweet Akemi. It's for **you**."_

_Akemi's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "No..."_

_Kei grinned evilly. "Yes," he insisted and held a small length of the rope and stretched it out before snapping it twice. "for **you**, Akemi-chan. I know that you're a masochist. You want me to tie you up and dominate you and do bad things to you."_

_In a very mature and thoughtful voice, Anna stated, "Ah, so Kei wants to have sex with Akemi,"_

_They cheeks of the two young people reddened. It seemed that her words had somehow penetrated through their drunkenness, enough for them to sober up at the shock of what Anna had said._

_The pair were blushing furiously._

_Anna tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong? You said she would like you to do bad things to her. Aren't bad things sex?"_

_Kei seemed uncomfortable then. "Not really..." he began but it seemed that he was bit puzzled, as if he wasn't so sure himself either._

"_I wouldn't let that bastard touch me in a million years!" Akemi cried and moved to get up._

_Forgetting his momentary confusion, Kei threw the rope around her, looping it at her waist and dragging her back. "I touch you often and you **love** it!" he retorted and he pulled her onto his lap. _

"_If you want to touch me, you better put a ring on my finger!"_

_"Who'd want to put a ring on your finger? And I'm touching you now anyway!"_

"_Screw you!"_

_As the two continued to argue, Anna picked up another wine pack._

_Those two had a very compatible relationship even if they did argue a lot. They were like little kids who pretended to hate each other, but secretly liked each other. _

_Hm...using a rope to tie someone up. Obviously that would make the person who was tied up feel helpless and vulnerable. _

_What would it be like for Anna if **Mikoto** tied her up? To have herself at his mercy?_

* * *

She was tied to a bed.

Yes, Anna was tied to the bed.

Who had tied her up?

Mikoto had tied her to her own bed.

With a white cord no less. He made sure to use white because he knew she would have difficulty seeing and that she wouldn't be able to undo the knot.

This was _not_ what she had had in mind when she had been thinking about what it would be like to have Mikoto tie her up.

So how had this happened?

* * *

_About 1 hour ago:_

Anna straightened after snatching up her marble and took a step back away from the tall, brooding man.

Unwittingly, she slid on a patch of ice and fell into hedge, becoming immersed in cold wet snow and thick brambles.

She let out a soft moan, only to have her arm grabbed. She was pulled out from the hedge. The entire back of her clothes were now soggy with the snow. Immediately, she was engulfed in Mikoto's familiar warmth which surrounded her and focused on her back which was wet.

Anna looked up at him as he did that task of drying out her clothing.

Mikoto could sometimes be as expressionless as she.

He was never one to laugh out loud or be boisterous in his behavior.

He was always quietly observant, and tended to bide his time like a predator observing his prey.

And when the moment was right, he would attack.

However, some prey did tend to amuse this particular lion-like man.

Some like Munakata Reisi.

One of the reasons was because Reisi was a King as well and was one of the very few people who understood what it was like to have a Sword hanging at the top of his head with the potential to fall and destroy everyone including himself.

Another reason was because Reisi was annoyingly smart.

Yes, 'annoyingly smart'.

Mikoto sometimes described him as a man who 'nagged too much' and 'had a stick up his ass'.

But Mikoto respected him because he made a formidable rival. Additionally, if things were to get too tense between them, Reisi became Mikoto's greatest enemy.

That was why when they met up, they tended to banter with each other as they fought. Mikoto could never help but toy with this man who was more than just some small-fry prey he could gobble with his power in one go.

Reisi was a larger prey, one who could almost equal him (it was unthinkable on Mikoto's part that Reisi could ever overpower him) and therefore he was one of the few who could keep up both a verbal and physical battle with Mikoto.

There was always this gleam in Mikoto's eyes when they fought like that-a look of twisted amusement that indicated that he was highly entertained by Munakata Reisi.

The only other time that Mikoto used that look on anyone was when he finally caught an enemy who had given him a good chase.

What Anna could therefore deduce was that Mikoto knew every damned thing she had been up to tonight and he was smirking like that because she had put up a good fight with her enemies and had kept herself well-hidden from her clansmen.

The problem though was that she did not know whether or not this was a good thing or a bad thing.

After all, once Mikoto caught up with his prey, he never did show any mercy, did he?

Ah, those golden eyes remained on her face as she continued gazing up at him without much change in her facial features-except for her eyes.

Those two gray orbs grew rounder like a frightened little rabbit's.

"Mikoto..." his name slid past her lips.

The man in question lifted his hand and deliberately pinched her cheek. "Since when were you so clumsy?" he demanded.

Anna whimpered at his affectionate roughness with her.

When he removed his hand, she couldn't even bring herself to touch the mark he caused to her skin and attempt to soothe away its sting.

She was too stunned by his behavior.

"Mikoto...isn't mad?"

Mikoto pressed his free hand to his hip as he bent slightly forward. "Hm? Did you _do_ something I should be upset about?"

Anna blinked twice.

And nearly cursed herself: she was assuming that Mikoto knew what she was up to, that Kei had told him everything. In fact, she had assumed that Mikoto even _knew_ it was her. She had forgotten that she still had on her disguise.

Either way, the part about her costume didn't matter because Mikoto had the ability to sense the presence of any of his clansmen because of the power he had granted them.

Including herself.

There was no way Mikoto would not know it was her.

"I...why are you smiling?" she questioned instead. She was really uncertain as to how much he did know. He probably really did know everything for her hadn't questioned her strange appearance yet. Anna therefore needed to play her cards cautiously in order to figure out just what he knew.

He did not reply but asked instead, "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

Despite being distrusting of his seemingly good mood, Anna could not refuse him.

She hesitated but nodded and motioned for him to follow her up the staircase. He did so and remained acutely aware of his large presence that remained behind her all the while.

Finally, they reached the top of the stairs and Anna opened up the door using her key.

"I don't know if Akemi is home," Anna informed him.

"She's with the other brat."

Anna was surprised. She looked at him from over her shoulder and blinked at him.

"With Kei?"

Mikoto nodded.

"Why?"

"He wasn't well. Anemia or something."

That made Anna slightly worried. Kei's anemia again?

How odd.

It seemed that only recently the anemia came to bother him again. Maybe his brother's presence in Seneca was affecting him more than he let on?

Anna made note to talk to Akemi about this.

After unlocking the door they both entered and removed their shoes.

As Anna didn't know what Mikoto was thinking or planning, she asked him rather politely, "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

Mikoto's eyes narrowed slightly on her. She had both her hands clasped in front of her, very much the opposite of the way she had behaved earlier. She had fought well, and caught the enemy.

That wasn't what irritated Mikoto.

It was her bloody get up.

She didn't look a thing like his pretty princess who had white hair and skin. No, she looked like some wild-assed yakuza chick.

Ironically, her current appearance fell more in line with the rough, fight-loving men of Homra than her true dainty appearance did.

That did not mean Mikoto liked it or accepted it. The person he wanted to speak to right now was his pale haired princess who loved ribbons and lace.

He removed his jacket. He casually slung it over the couch.

"Take off that ridiculous wig and that awful make up," he ordered.

Anna tilted her head to the side. She didn't think it was that bad.

"My wig isn't ridiculous nor is my make up bad," she remarked. It was not in offended tone that she spoke these words, but rather a more reasonable manner.

Mikoto reached out and caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. His eyes were dead serious on her.

"You have white hair and pale skin. It's ridiculous that you should wear such garbage to cover it up."

Anna pulled her face away. If she didn't know any better, she might have taken that as a kind of compliment. After all, this might be his way of saying that for her, her natural look was better.

But this was Mikoto.

His intention was not to compliment.

He was just brutally honest.

"I had to..." she began but stopped. Just how much was Mikoto aware of?

Mikoto snorted. "Your disguise. I know. You've been pulling a hell of a racket, Anna."

Anna remained silent. She wasn't deliberately being obtuse. She just didn't know what to say on that matter.

After all, she _had_ planned to tell them everything.

Unfortunately, they had found out for themselves. What Anna was wary of right now was what Mikoto intended to do with her.

The members of each clan were punished for deceit and disobedience.

The only person who ever got away with that was Fushimi Saruhiko because he had left to go to another clan and therefore Mikoto's jurisdiction over him had been removed.

In the Red Clan, the bonds between everyone was so strong that the only time anyone was truly punished was when they harmed Izumo's beloved bar in any kind of way.

He was so crazy about the place that he lovingly furnished that he had once made Bando and Yata write, 'I will not fight in Izumo's beautiful bar ever again' 500 times. He had also made sure they numbered each time they wrote it to ensure that they did not skip any lines.

Not that they listened because shortly after completing their penance, Yata put the blame of their punishment on Bando and once more, chaos ensued.

Occasionally, when the raucous did become too much, some clansmen might receive a whack on the head.

But that was it.

After all, just how much could you do to clansmen who broke basic laws of society everyday? And most of the time, it was something thoughtless that they did without any real harmful intention.

Anna did not think that her deceit was currently sitting well with any of her clansmen right now.

Even this coolly amused facade Mikoto put on did not fool her. He was up to something and she knew it.

He was going to deal with her somehow.

But she did not know _how_ he was going to do so.

"What is Mikoto going to do?" she asked rather softly.

"Talk," he answered.

Anna lifted her head. Just talk?

There was no way Mikoto was letting her off the hook with just a calm discussion.

"But-"

Her words were cut off when Mikoto caught her chin between his his fingers. He used his thumb to gently press at the plump flesh of her lower lip.

"We're going to talk," he repeated with calm, golden eyes. "But you will get rid off that getup first."

He released her and she nodded. She hurried away to do as he had commanded.

* * *

When Anna returned shortly afterward, Mikoto was looking at the screen of his PDA. He might have been speaking to someone.

Izumo perhaps.

Upon sight of her, he shoved it into the pocket of his trousers.

Anna had removed her wig and combed out her hair. She tied the thick white mass into a low ponytail and had her bangs neatly covering her pale forehead. Her face had also been wiped clean of any traces of make up.

When Mikoto saw that she looked like his Anna, and not that crazy bounty hunter, he walked over to her.

Anna tilted her head the side for he was quietly observing her with his golden eyes.

"Mikoto?"

He snorted softly. "Good, you look like you."

"You said you wanted to talk. Can I offer you something to drink before we do?"

She almost cringed at how polite she sounded.

Mikoto shook his head. "We're not in your maid cafe, Anna. I just need to ask you a few things."

Anna's lips thinned slightly, indicating that she was somewhat surprised at his words.

_Just ask her a few things?_

"You became a bounty hunter two years ago, used your power to track down criminals, used the reward money to supplement your income and you did all of that without telling any of your clansmen. None of us knew anything until today," he stated.

Well, Mikoto was never really one to mince words. He was ensuring that she understood just how much he actually knew concerning what she had been up to.

But the way he said it reminded her specifically that her clansmen as well had perfectly good reason to be upset with her. She was indeed starting to be so headstrong about her decision to go after Takeshi without giving a damn that her clansmen were there. She had used the excuse that she could handle it because they would find out eventually.

Despite this, it was starting to dawn on her that the reality was that facing her clansmen with what she had been up to was actually a lot more difficult than it sounded.

"I was surprised by how much you were capable off. If you weren't my clansman, you would have made a good enemy."

Anna blinked twice.

A good enemy? She had followed the line of thought that he was probably seemingly entertained by her in some way because she reminded him a bit of his enemy/rival Munakata Reisi. She didn't think she had actually achieved the rank of 'good enemy' now.

The problem was, what happens now? After all, she did not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"You have a lot to answer for, brat," he continued.

Ah, she certainly was not going to be let off so easily by him.

"What I want to know right now is what do you know about the strain."

Anna blinked once more and looked at him.

"Strain?" she repeated.

"Takeshi's strain," Mikoto explained as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"I...I didn't know.." Anna confessed hesitantly. It seemed that Mikoto needed to gather information and he must have believed that she was probably very resourceful considering all the things she had been up to lately.

That was when she saw it-the intense vexation that had been lingering beneath his darkly amused mood.

Mikoto took one step forward and the echo of his movement seemed to resound in the quietness of the room.

Anna automatically took one step back and found that her back had hit the wall. Mikoto's hand slammed into the wall beside her face, showing that he was certainly a lot more enraged that he let on.

Anna looked from his hand beside her to his face.

The gleam in his eyes gradually changed from dark amusement to a what seemed like quietly burning anger.

"You mean to tell me that you went after Takeshi Sadao without knowing that he had a very dangerous strain around who got rid off any witnesses?" he questioned with deadly softness. Oh, Anna was familiar with this tone, alright.

This was _not_ a good thing.

"I had heard that somehow the witnesses were gotten rid off but I didn't know how," Anna admitted. She was very much unnerved by the way his red seemed to change to a darker color.

And darker still it became after her confession.

"And you still went after him, practically on your own, even though you didn't know everything?" Mikoto continued.

Yes, she had. She had done something stupid and she could admit to herself that it was very foolish for her to do that.

However, she wouldn't admit that to _him_.

Pride was one thing that held her back.

Fear was the other.

Mikoto was like a ticking time bomb waiting for her to just say the wrong thing so that he could explode at her.

Oh, and Anna was well aware of how terrifying Mikoto could be when he was angry. He rarely ever raised his voice but he had done so twice at her. The first time had been after the situation with the Rise when he had kicked a chair and smashed it to pieces. The second time had been in Seneca after the situation with Iwao. It was only her tears that had caused his anger to abate at that time.

Anna had done things tonight that she knew he wouldn't be happy about.

This time...she didn't know what was going to happen.

Earlier on, Anna had been very cold to him and the rest of her clansmen.

Hostile even.

And it had been because her inconsiderate, forgetful clansmen had dropped in unexpectedly.

As she thought about how things had been between herself and her clansmen lately, she found that her fear began to disappear.

Her own anger began to take place.

"_There's somewhere I need to go tomorrow, will you come with me?" she asked the sleeping man._

_A grunt was her response which she ended up assuming was 'no'._

Just days earlier he had cuddled her.

But it seemed that he might have done so out of pity for her because she had had terrible cramps and he was able to soothe them.

Pity was something she had never had use for.

She didn't need him to come close to her only to have him push her away again just because he felt a bit sorry for her.

She didn't need that.

She didn't _want_ that.

She also didn't need a bunch of clansmen who got her to trust them, only to have them forget about her whenever she wanted to hang out with them. She remembered every time she asked Izumo where they were in order to spend time with them, only to learn they had made other plans on the days they knew she was going to be at home.

She was sick of hearing about the awesome moments they had had when she was not there.

"_Kusanagi-san, we should go out to the Summer festival more often!" Shouhei exclaimed. _

_Anna, from a corner of the bar, glanced at the young man who constantly wore that blue cap with their clan's logo on it. _

_Hadn't she requested that they go a couple days ago only to have them make some excuses that they were busy?_

How many times had she been neglected by these people?

She had made up her mind to give them understanding, to realize that maybe she was at fault too.

But she couldn't fully convince herself that she had a large hand to play in the distance between her and her clansmen.

While they had been neglecting her, she had come to spend more time in Seneca, doing things to occupy herself and make herself stronger.

She became a bounty hunter, and yes she had made a stupid mistake earlier today by acting based on her emotions. After all, if her clansmen hadn't come in time, she would have been a bad situation.

But she had a damned legit reason for being headstrong on stupid!

Yes, she could admit she had been an idiot but she did _not_ regret what she had done.

And it was this reasoning that made her eyes practically ice over as they gazed up defiantly at Mikoto.

Without a shred of shame, she replied, "Yes,"

Mikoto blinked at her.

Why was she angry now? Seriously, this girl was becoming so confusing!

Mikoto tsked now.

How annoying. He really didn't understand the female mind.

Anna did not know what Mikoto was thinking as he glared down at her.

He huffed and drew back. Before she could so anything, he suddenly grasped her by the waist with one strong arm and threw her over his shoulder.

* * *

_Once upon a time...or rather, more often it occurred to the point of where it became a norm, Anna was like a cute little rabbit who slept like a kitten. Yes, she could be analogous to various types of small animals for she was very much like one._

_Especially when she slumbered. She sometimes curled into a ball and her white hair would cover her. Her little hands would be close to her face as she lay on her side and her breath would be soft and easy._

_When napping beside Mikoto's large body, she was always the most comfortable._

_This dainty child's desire to be near him was something the terrifying Red King accepted. He would do almost anything for this person, for he treasured her so much._

_There was once a time she had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs atop Mikoto's jacket. This had happened because she had slept away on his arm on his cold evening and Mikoto would have felt badly to move even if he needed to._

_So, he did the next best thing: he removed his jacket and had her hug it against her as she leaned against the armrest of the couch._

_Now, he towered above the sleeping girl and scratched the back of his head in slight frustration. He was going out for some cigarettes and he rarely ever left the bar without his jacket. _

_Unless it was an emergency like the time Anna had carelessly run off with that horse. _

_Tatara, helping Izumo to polish some glass, observed the King. _

_Mikoto let out an irritated sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets. He moved to walk away, pausing only at the counter to glare at the overly smiley Totsuka Tatara._

_Tatara shrugged. He knew the King had given him an angry look because he already understood that Tatara had been waiting to call him a big meanie if he took away the jacket from the little girl._

_Well, Mikoto was going out jacket-less this evening. _

"_You fabulous sense of fashion has been cut a little short tonight, eh Mikoto?" Izumo teased._

"_Shut up."_

_Mikoto could do without his jacket because the weather wasn't cold._

_What he didn't need was anyone poking fun at him for his lack of his possession, especially the reason for him not having it._

_Really, was it that fascinating that he put the needs of the little female before his own?_

_Well, Mikoto had to admit to himself that yes, it was probably an intriguing and amusing sight to his two friends. _

_When Anna awoke later to find him gone with only a mild scent of tobacco lingering around her, her large gray eyes became a bit sad. _

_Mikoto had come back just in time to find the girl sitting up on the couch, amidst her layers of ruffles and lace from her dress, with eyes that had a downcast look in them._

_It didn't take much for him to notice that she was unhappy. Her eyes had lowered slightly and her eyebrows had a very slight slant to them._

_She reminded him of a sad little kitten. _

_That actually amused Mikoto. _

_Interestingly, he could almost picture a sign being placed above her head with the words, '**Anna, the Sad Kitty**' written on it. _

_Downcast gray eyes and milky white hair made up this pretty little kitty. _

_All she needed now was a cardboard box to look like the perfect little stray in Mikoto's mind. Yes, stray. She was basically a stray wasn't she? Just like most of the other clansmen, only she was their youngest and sweetest one. _

_Mikoto covered a chuckle at his thoughts with a cough, drawing Tatara and Izumo's attention to him from behind the bar. _

"_Ah, King! Did you get what you needed?" Tatara questioned. _

"_Yeah," Mikoto answered. _

"_Anna was sleeping like a baby with your jacket! She was so cute!" Tatara exclaimed, quite warmed by the sight of the small child they cared for. Maybe cute things just had a way of easing tension in one's heart._

_Maybe that was why ever since Anna had joined them, everyone seemed more cheerful._

_Even Mikoto. _

_Mikoto turned his attention to Anna who hurried over to his side with his black jacket in her arms. She lowered her head shyly and apologized for having used his jacket at a time when he might have wanted it. "I'm sorry."_

_Mikoto patted her head kindly. He didn't mind at all. _

_She lifted her adorable little face and tilted it to the side like a curious little kitten's. _

_Really, she was like a guilty kitty right now. _

_Mikoto couldn't help but give her hair another stroke. Anna responded by blinking those large eyes at him._

_Indeed, she was **disturbingly** cute. _

Mikoto currently wondered where the hell all that cuteness went.

He didn't say anything to her at all, he simply dragged her off to her bedroom. He assumed that this one was hers for it was the one he had seen her go into to get rid off her disguise. Whether or not it truly was, didn't matter to the King for he dropped Anna onto the bed so that when she fell, her body bounced slightly.

"Ah!" she gasped.

He knew she wouldn't get hurt by his actions, but his roughness with her did astonish her.

She leaned up on her arms and looked at him with her wide gray eyes.

"Mikoto?" she whispered his name, clearly bemused by his behavior.

Mikoto's eyes remained silently on her for what seemed like a very long moment. She couldn't decipher what he was thinking or planning, only that he was extremely displeased with her.

Then, his tall, athletic figure moved.

He walked over to the door and locked it.

Before he returned his attention to her, he told her, "When I return to Shizume City tonight, you will come with me,"

Anna was about to say something, but he turned around and walked over to her.

The wood of the bed creaked slightly from the depression of his weight and before Anna could say or so anything, his large hands caught her elbows and pulled them from under her.

She made a soft noise from the impact of the bed behind her back.

Mikoto remained hovering above her.

Where was the little girl who looked like an adorable animal?

The child who eased his presence?

Who wore dresses and had a weakness for ribbons?

Who had bits of omurice stuck to her cheeks whenever she ate it?

Who spoke with softness and calmness and without a shred of selfishness?

After all, this porcupine of a woman certainly wasn't _his_ sweet Anna.

This person had blatantly admitted to stupidity with a defiant look in her eyes. It wasn't even an admission over something trivial but a confession that she went after a dangerous man, could have gotten herself hurt and possibly killed (and had it not been for Homra's intervention, she would have been) and she could have avoided all that, had she done proper research.

Or better yet; not taken part in this at all.

In fact, had she done the proper research, she would have realized that there was no way she could have taken down Takeshi on her own. The wise decision would have been for her to stay home and stay away from this case.

"Mikoto..." Anna called his name out softly, uncertain about what Mikoto was planning. In the darkness of this room, she could dimly make out the outline of his face.

And his beautiful red that was slowly become a bloody color with his rage.

Anna gasped again when Mikoto unexpectedly caught her by the shoulders and deliberately turned her over so that she lay on her stomach.

He leaned down over her so that one large hand remained pressed on her shoulder while his other arm when around her waist, over her back, holding her in place.

Anna felt his hot breath on her ear as he informed her in a cold, hard voice, "Takeshi has a strain who no one knows a lot about, only that he is capable of poisoning his enemies by sending dangerous needles at them."

Anna stiffened at his words.

Mikoto's voice became harsh as he continued, "If I hadn't come in and frightened him off, he might have gotten you,"

Anna felt all the feelings of anger and defiance she had fade.

After all, she had been foolish.

She had acted on emotions and nearly gotten herself killed.

**(*****)**

Mikoto suddenly moved and Anna heard the bed creak as one hard thigh slid between hers and his hand that was on her shoulder pulled her upward.

That way, his long arm that was around her back was able to wrap around her and across her stomach now as he pulled her against his lean torso.

He held her carefully captive against him for she now straddling his left thigh. His arm around her trapped her own arms at her sides while his free hand still gripped her shoulder tightly-in an almost threatening manner.

Anna did not need to turn around to know that Mikoto's eyes were glowing red.

"If Yata and the others hadn't come in, you would have gotten a good beating," Mikoto growled, his mouth hot against her ear.

Anna swallowed hard.

She was well aware of his rage...this menace.

And yet she was becoming very much aware as well of the fact that it was just her and him in this small room.

This room that was becoming hotter because of his heat.

A heat that was surrounding her, engulfing her.

Not only that, his thigh was wedged between hers, and the way he held her forced that sensitive part of her to press hard against his limb.

Every time he made some small movement, she felt a slight rub against her through her jeans that _burned_.

Anna couldn't let Mikoto find out how she was feeling right now. She was quite certain that he would get even more angry at her.

Truthfully, it was the opposite.

Mikoto was actually close to losing his sanity.

Yes, he was going _crazy_.

There was a combination of lust and rage in him that was not pleasant for him right now.

Especially when he could easily catch the feminine scent of Anna's body that indicated that she was aroused.

Like an animal, a beast his own body responded with a wave of lust crashing over him.

He wanted to move his thigh between hers to see if she would let out a little gasp. He wanted to shove her onto her back and touch that sensitive place that was pressing against him. He wanted to see what kind of _expressions_ she would make.

He was quite sure that not even Anna could keep a blank look on at the brink of ecstacy. In fact, he was quite sure that if she was touched the right way, it would be easy to get her to show many looks.

Mikoto was losing a battle with his will as he found his hand that was around her move to her flat stomach.

He pushed the sweater upward so that his hot palm could press against her stomach.

Anna let out a quiet hiss.

Probably at how heated his touch was-probably hot enough for him to leave his handprint on her. He soothed downward until he came to her belt buckle while his free hand grasped her chin and pressed her head backward, tucking her head against his neck.

He leaned down and kissed her temple softly.

"I remember once warning you that I would take you over my knee if you ever did something stupid again," he reminded her in a dark voice.

Anna was sure that she was sweating right now.

Sweating from his heat and the desire that was being evoked in her.

His voice had a sensuality attached to it that just reminded her of whisky and dark chocolate.

It was almost seductive.

Mikoto's fingers were currently tracing her belt buckle.

"Should I? Anna?" he continued on the same tone.

Was he seducing her?

Did he feel the same way she did?

"_You keep touching your fingers to your lips, Anna. Did you get kissed?" Akemi questioned teasingly in hopes of alleviating some of her friend's very desolated mood. _

_They were in the locker room of the maid cafe and Anna glanced at her friend. _

_Her silence was enough for Akemi to know the truth. _

_Immediately, Akemi threw her arms around Anna. "You did! Who was it?!"_

_Anna shook her head. "It was just a New Year's kiss from Mikoto...but he pulled back quickly."_

_Akemi seemed thoughtful. "Maybe he pulled back because he thought he was enjoying it too much. He probably can't help but touch you a lot," Akemi wiggled her eyebrows playfully, "he probably wants you."_

_Anna blinked at her friend. "No. He hugged me a lot a few days ago...he didn't have a problem with it then. Now he does. He doesn't want me."_

_Akemi folded her arms. Really? Anna couldn't see for herself that if a man obviously pulled her close and then pushed her away, then he was obviously fighting his feelings for her. _

"_Probably because a few days ago you were bleeding from the crotch so he didn't have to worry about actually doing anything to you," Akemi pointed out. As she and Anna lived together, she was familiar with her friend's cycle and when she got irritated, she didn't hesitate to use a bit of crudity in her words. _

_Although Anna's face was blank as she tied her apron, Akemi knew well enough when her friend was being doubtful about something. _

Was Akemi right then? Did Mikoto really want her...as she wanted him?

Was he really fighting against his feelings for her?

Anna could feel Mikoto's deep vexation with her and she wanted him to take it out on her. Not in a physical, violent manner.

No; a sexual way.

She didn't know if she liked the idea of being 'spanked' as Mikoto was obviously threatening to do when he said that he would 'take her over his knee'.

But being touched by Mikoto right now, with skin to skin contact was something she wanted.

She _needed_ him.

There was tension drawing up in her body and instinctively, she knew that he could ease it.

Mikoto was well aware of how her body was feeling-for his own felt the same way. He wanted to take advantage of her sexual desire and exploit it in such a way that she would cry out with pleasure.

As these thoughts began to consume him, all his reasons for staying away from her became trivial and meaningless.

He roughly undid the buckle of her belt.

"You haven't answered me yet, Anna. Should I punish you?" he hissed at her as he practically tore the button from her jeans.

Anna let out a whimper and Mikoto knew that that was not her becoming afraid.

She was excited.

Maybe she would like to have his hand on her naked backside.

And she did have a cute little behind.

It was the type that had the perfect roundness-not too big, not too flat but had just the right enough plumpness to make a man want to fill his hands with them.

Anna looked downward when she felt Mikoto's hand pull down her jeans slightly on her right hip, revealing a peek of her red cotton panties. He had had to pull her upward a bit in order to pull down her jeans a little but when he forced her back on his thigh, she almost moaned at the way he seemed to deliberately drag her across her limb so that the intense rub made her burn more.

Oh, he wanted to make her moan more. Those sounds would be like music to his ears that went straight to his groin.

His long fingers threaded through the side of her red underwear.

She shook her head at Mikoto, in response to his earlier question.

A part of her did wonder what it would be like to get 'punished' by him.

But another part of her was a bit disturbed.

She let out a soft cry when Mikoto suddenly pulled back the side of her panties slightly and released it like a rubber band so that it snapped against her hip, giving her a sting of pain.

A sting of pain that in no way diffused the heat of her body.

If anything, her body absorbed the hurt and became even more sensitive to him.

His lips were at her earlobe and Anna just wanted to feel his teeth on them, the sharpness of canines nipping at the tender skin there.

She certainly did not have any sexual experience but she had read from Akemi's perverted mangas that it was a sweet spot for many women.

She felt that it might the same for her as well.

Mikoto murmured softly, "Hm? So you don't want me to-"

**(*****)**

Before Mikoto could continue, his PDA began to ring.

The pair froze and Mikoto immediately released Anna and withdrew himself from her.

Almost right away, the heat seemed to draw back into Mikoto and once more, the room became cold.

And it was this coolness that surrounded her and seemed to wash away all of Mikoto's warmth from her body.

All the signs of lust in this room dissipated.

Anna gazed at her King as he answered the phone.

"What? Okay. I'm coming," he said and quickly hung up.

Anna looked at him, waiting, wondering what he would do now.

What had just happened, hadn't been her imagination, right?

Her desire hadn't been one sided at all, right?

Mikoto looked at his princess once more.

Nothing much had happened.

At least nothing tangible enough for Anna to actually question him about.

After all, kisses on the face was more or less normal for him to do to her.

Although pulling down her pants slightly and playing with the edge of those sexy panties of hers was _not_ normal.

Still, he could pass that off as him carrying out his threat to give her ass a good walloping if she ever got herself into something foolish and dangerous again.

Anna observed Mikoto's red. It had returned normal.

The room was normal as well.

All this did leave her doubting about what had happened between herself and Mikoto.

Oh, she was well aware of what _she_ had been feeling.

But she certainly was not sure if it was just one-sided on her part.

Yet, could she, as a strain who was given insight into people's inner thoughts, truly deny that there was something different about Mikoto's touch?

That there was not intent of affection behind his touches, nor the intent to physically punish her for her behavior?

There was that part of her, inside of her, starting to wonder if it was that Mikoto really did want her as much she wanted him and that he pressed down those feelings because he wanted to protect her from himself.

"Mikoto..."

He sat down beside her once more.

He seemed normal now.

Even with that almost grim expression on.

Anna was going to question what he was going to do, but he lowered his head to hers once more and roughly, he nuzzled at her temple.

Anna pushed at his chest. He was deliberately trying to get her to sleep.

"No. Why are you doing this?" she protested.

Mikoto caught her wrists in one hand and pinned them above her head.

That angry look in his face had not changed as he looked down at her.

"I want you to stay here."

"Are you going after the strain?"

"It doesn't matter."

Anna struggled a bit. "Let me come, I can help, I-"

Mikoto placed a firm hand on her stomach as he growled lowly, "No, you've done enough,"

Anna's eyes widened. She understood that he thought that she was being troublesome. Not only because she wanted to come with them, but because of her activities earlier that night. Maybe that should have irked her and made her own temper flare.

But instead, she only felt sadness rise up in her heart.

She closed her mouth tightly and Mikoto sensed the change in her mood.

He couldn't decipher it, but he knew that whatever she was feeling did not have anything to do with anger.

Mikoto tsked.

He hated when he didn't understand things, and he hated when those things he couldn't comprehend had to do with this particularly puzzling female.

He sighed and leaned his face closer to hers, close enough for his hot breath to touch her cheek.

"Don't I get a kiss before I go?" he asked her.

Mikoto felt some of his ire disappear at the way she drew her mouth into a thin line.

His princess was pouting. At least that sullen attitude was better than that blank look she had just had and he couldn't understand.

Mikoto pressed his own lips against her smooth cheek and Anna turned her head. She blinked at him and dutifully touched her mouth to the very corner of his mouth for it was where she could reach.

Somehow, the little affection dissolved his anger and he moved to gently nuzzle her just above her ear in his favorite place.

His hard grip on her wrists loosened and her hands clutched his broad shoulders as she released a relaxed sigh at his familiar touch, hold and feel.

Anna was a little surprised at his request for that bit of tenderness from her but she had complied even if she hadn't wanted to in the first place (mainly because she was not very happy with his forcefulness).

Mikoto switched to the other side of her head which she willing have him access to. She loved the feel of his nose buried in her hair. It was almost therapeutic to her for his touch just seemed to whisk away all the emotional burdens that weighed in heavily on her heart.

She needed this man. His scent, his heat, his touch.

Anna could recognize that.

It was something she had known since she had first come to Homra.

The question was, did he need her as much as well?

* * *

Yata waited downstairs Anna's apartment for his King.

All the while doing so, he admired the sleek, sexy red motorcycle that was parked outside. A Suzuki bike that was in excellent condition and just begging for him to jump on a make a spin with it throughout Seneca Town.

The chestnut haired fellow had to admit that he was surprised that it was possible to leave such a good vehicle parked outside and not worry about anyone stealing it.

But then again, Seneca was highly guarded.

If anyone stole the bike, they wouldn't reach far before some alarm device was triggered off, sending a swarm of cops after the thief.

Yata took a step back from the bike.

He was impressed with it, but he knew who it belonged to.

He had seen her ride it, hadn't he?

Anna that is.

Their pretty, dainty little princess had changed into someone he did not know. She was no longer their precious little strain who remained well guarded on the side lines.

No; she had become a hardcore, fearless fighter who could probably match up well with him in a serious fight. He didn't believe that she was capable of beating him quite yet, but she could hold her own really well.

She had looked so beautiful earlier today in her maid cafe uniform. She had served them with so much grace.

But she had been so cold.

She had not been their Anna even then; just someone who seemed to have grudge against them. A grudge that they couldn't even understand. Did she hate that they had come to her cafe? Had they been bothersome toward her?

Yata felt unhappiness well up inside of him.

If only they could go back to those days when things were happier.

Not necessarily the days when Tatara was still alive for Yata understood that his deceased comrade wanted to only be remembered with joy and not sadness. There were instances that he did want to go back to that time, but his acceptance of his friend's death and the healing power of time made it easier for him to hold those memories dear.

Perhaps they could go back to when...things were more 'together'.

When Anna was home more often.

When Mikoto was beside her more frequently.

And the rest of the clansmen would surround them, drawn to the warm atmosphere between the two

_Snowed in._

_They were snowed in again and there was nothing to do except sit around and listen to Anna read them stories. She was on the couch in the closed bar area with a thick book on her lap. The thirteen year old girl wore on a red ruffled dress and white stockings. _

_Beside her sat Mikoto who had a cigarette stuck in his mouth. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his jeans and his head was slightly lowered, as if he had fallen asleep. Izumo was behind the bar, paying attention to the words Anna said while he polished his precious glass._

_Surrounding them, either at the bar's counter, on the opposite couch or on the floor, were the rest of their clansmen who hung onto every word that the soothing voice of Anna spoke out._

_The atmosphere was like 'quiet family time'. _

_Yata himself had not come from a very stable family as his mother had ended up being a single parent to him and worked long hours. His father had been absent from his life during that time and therefore Homra provided the bonds of a family that he needed._

_And right now, Anna was almost like a 'mommy', he could say._

_She was younger than them all and yet the way she spoke, the way everyone listened, it was like a mother reading to her children who clung to every word that was being said. Mikoto's firm presence beside her, the power and the protection he represented gave him the feel of a father. _

_There was a special kind of parental warmth in the room and it made Yata feel even more so, as if he were at home in a loving family._

* * *

Yata stepped back from the motorcycle.

If only they could go back to that time...when Anna seemed to have a more solid ground in their clan.

When she was their delicate princess who they knew and understood.

Not this person he did not know.

Mikoto came downstairs then. He paused at the sight of the bike and nearly sneered at it.

He had to admit, it was a damned good looking ride.

Mikoto let out a sigh then. He remembered that they had figured out that earlier today, Anna had wanted for him to come with her to get her motorcycle license.

He didn't really understand much or why she would intentionally let him know considering how much she already hid.

But he did know what he had just felt in that small room with her.

And that little kiss on the cheek he had wanted from her was something he needed.

To soothe him.

To quiet that beast in him.

To send him back to the memories of when she was a child and he would never dare lay a hand on her as he had tonight.

So that he could quell that monster of lust inside of him, and in doing so, so that he could stabilize his powers that were threatening to start rioting with the conflict inside of him unless he calmed down.

And her little kiss had worked its magic on him, hadn't it? It could have had an opposite effect on him, but Mikoto was thanking God right now that it didn't.

"Stay here until I get back," Mikoto ordered Yata.

* * *

It was when Anna opened her eyes an hour later that she realized that Mikoto had tied her wrists to the bedrail to prevent from escaping.

With a white cord no less.

A white cord to blind her from the knot.

After uttering a soft curse, the princess of the Red Clan fell asleep again.

After all, there was nothing to do again until her King got back.

* * *

"_I'm glad we brought along this blanket for Anna," Tatara murmured as he held her close to his slim body. Anna was barely conscious of what he was saying, only aware that she was safe in these warm arms._

"_It wasn't necessary, Mikoto's heat is enough for her," Izumo pointed out to his left._

_At his right, Mikoto grunted in agreement. _

_Tatara chuckled in a good natured way. "Yes, but in this way, I get to be the one to hold her!"_

"_You treat her like she's your hobby. I hope you won't ever get tired of her," Izumo remarked._

_Tatara shook his head. "Those hobbies are built around lifeless objects. People like the King and Anna are real flesh, blood and bone. I will never throw them away."_

"_Oi, how am I'm your hobby?" Mikoto demanded around a cigarette as they strode through the darkened streets._

_The young man laughed. "You're so much fun to try to prank!"_

_Mikoto muttered something under his breath. If Tatara hadn't been holding their princess, he would have gotten a good whack on his head. _

"Tatara," Anna murmured softly. That dream was one of those long ago memories when she had been cared for lovingly by Tatara.

She stirred and opened her eyes.

At first, she was disoriented and thought that she was still asleep, for she was wrapped in a blanket and being carried. She was snuggled quite warmly and comfortably.

However, she soon realized that the arms that carried her were powerful arms, much stronger that those of Totsuka Tatara's. The blanket was not as soft as that one Tatara had held her in when she was a child, nor was the heat of this man as light as that of the man who treated her like a precious sister.

She came to the conclusion soon enough that it was Mikoto carrying her.

Anna looked up at him and was able too his face from the side.

His red hair was brilliantly portrayed in her line of vision.

And his expression was rather uninviting.

Her power did allow her to sense that he was very moody right now and if she spoke to him, he would either act grumpily or ignore her.

He was taking her somewhere.

She glanced at the door they were nearing. This led out of the apartment and to the staircase.

Then, she looked up at Mikoto's face. He was very much aware that she had awakened but he did not seem intent on paying her any mind.

Still, she needed to know what his intentions toward her were.

"Mikoto," she voiced his name.

He glanced at her as he neared the door.

Anna was silent for a moment.

"Izumo is waiting," Mikoto curtly informed her.

Izumo?

She blinked rapidly and almost immediately, and had to refrain from struggling.

The reason for this was because if there was one person she was very uncertain about facing right now, it was Izumo. She had a good reason to be unhappy with the rest of her clansmen for they had hurt her by deliberately neglecting her despite being not realizing it.

On the other hand, Izumo had never done the same.

He had been there for her, listened to her, tried to take note of what was going in her life.

He had adopted her as his own and treated her like family.

Yes, he treated her like a child but he by no means ever neglected her. He did so much for her and right now, she was quite certain that he was very displeased with her.

He was the person she had wanted to speak to first about what she had been up to and because he had to find out this way about her activities, Anna did not think she could explain herself now. If there was one time she needed someone's advice, it was right now.

That had been her intention when visiting Yuki Natsume.

"Mikoto," she began.

Maybe it was possibly to persuade him to let her see Izumo tomorrow, after she had spoken to her former principal.

The King glanced at her.

"I...I need to speak to Natsume-san," she explained. She needed to stall Mikoto so that she could gather her thoughts, stabilize her heart and speak about it properly. She was regretting even more now that she had rushed headlong into getting Takeshi herself and not caring that her clansmen would find out. She hadn't thought about how it would have been more important to tell Izumo herself than to let him find out otherwise, what her activities were. It was one thing to actually admit everything to him in a casual conversation and it was another to converse with him when he already knew.

Mikoto let out a sigh. "You can't see her right now. She left Seneca earlier to help sort out some issues with the strain."

Anna lowered her head.

Indeed, there seemed to be no way that she was getting to see the older woman before she did the rest of her clansmen.

Mikoto stepped outside the door with her still in his arms.

Already she had sensed Yata's presence. Indeed, he was bowing before his King quite politely and never once did he lift his head to look at Anna.

This made her sad. He obviously knew about her bounty hunting activities and it seemed that he was upset by it.

Anna was about to call his name, but Mikoto spoke, "Lock the door,"

Yata nodded and hurried to the door, ensuring that the apartment was secure.

Down the stairs and out into the cold they went while Mikoto remained broodingly silent.

Anna recognized Izumo's silver sedan parked out front.

The person she saw in the driver's seat was Fujishima, not Izumo. The passenger side was empty and Anna strongly suspected that Yata was going to be riding shotgun today.

After all, the person sitting to the back was definitely Izumo.

She recognized his red. It was a a stable kind of red that had a comforting feel. It was different from Tatara's, but special in its own way.

Izumo reached over and opened the door for Mikoto. He pushed it open and Mikoto slid inside with her held against him, on his lap.

Once she was safely inside, she scooted from on top him so that she was now in between Mikoto and Izumo.

She looked at Izumo.

He was not looking at her.

He had his elbow leaning against the window while his head was in his hand.

"Izumo..." she began.

He slanted his eyes at her.

He did not seem angry but the red from him that her eyes deciphered showed that he was not in a good mood either.

Anna's mouth moved to form a straight line. She did not know what to say to him.

Izumo let out a weary sigh.

Anna blinked and then lowered her head. "We'll talk when we get home."

So he _was_ upset?

Well, she couldn't blame him, could she?

As long as he gave her a chance to explain, she would.

Izumo suddenly dropped a black backpack on her lap.

"Your friend Kei sent that for you. He said it has some of your belongings," Izumo explained with his remaining out the window.

Anna raised an eyebrow slightly at it.

Then, she unzipped the bag and peeked inside.

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly for all she could see was what looked like a large rectangular object. If she didn't know any better, this might be a twelve pack of that wine in the juice box she drank with her friends.

Thinking back, she recalled that she had left a black backpack at the maid cafe with some of her things in it.

Kei also had the same backpack and he might have given Izumo the wrong one.

Or he might have thought that she might require a drink or two this evening.

With the grim silence going on in this vehicle as they drove to Shizume City, Anna decided that she just might need one.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy this chapter. If you ever end up in a situation where you are 'overcome' with lust for someone: please use your head and think about the consequences of your actions. Remember that it's fun in fiction but the real-life consequences are quite serious, especially if you are still a teen.**

******Mikoto did threaten to 'take Anna over his knee' before. That was in the prequel, in chapter 45. **

**Anyway, thank you so much for all the follows, favorites and reviews. **

**For those of you who reviewed:**

_**DBerryNia: I think this chapter answers your question about the amusement :) Yes, the opening was from the Basashi chapter. I stated it at the A/N at the end of the chapter :) Hahaha I think the Basashi chapters were my two favorite...and definitely the one with Anna and Mikoto's date ;)**_

_**Indochine: I'm pleased that you understood that chapter for what it was: how Anna grew up. And you are very correct about more happening :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :) Well, life goes on with or without friends. Thanks for your words as well and I'm always pleased to hear from you :)**_

_**LadyCassie: He sounds cute! I saw a small cute puppy today and I just wanted to hug him! Lol sorry. I just love animals too much. Especially rabbits and dogs XD I'm really glad that you love the story. Thank you for your kind words :)**_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: She's in some trouble, and I think the next chapter will bring a lot of things to light between her and her clansmen ;) Yes, she did drool on his shirt! I also mentioned Munakata in this chapter. Hope the mention of him brought back more memories for you :)**_

_**Arius the Heretic: I hope you really enjoyed this chapter as well! I'm glad that you don't mind the errors although they still kind of bug me. But once you understand what's going on, that's important :)**_

_**WithLoveAlways: Lol, I just enjoy hearing from reviewers and what they liked about the chapter. It lets me know that the story is interesting to you all. Yes, the opening was about that horse strain. I need to know something: when did I mention that Anna wanted them to stop her? You mean stop her as in stopping her from going after Takeshi? I don't recall saying that anywhere, but if I did then please let me know so that I can correct that because that might be a serious typo on my part. About Akemi and Kei, well they were standing up for their friend and Mikoto certainly wouldn't yell at two teens like that. At least I don't think so. Anna had to wear the disguise so that no one would know who she was. Remember that Seneca is guarded by several members of the Red Clan and not even her school's administration knows what she is up to. If they ever found out, she would get in trouble with them. They would report it to Mikoto and Izumo and she would get in trouble from there as well. That was the purpose of the disguise :) Anna definitely does seem to be qualified to be a spy :) I don't mind if you don't review all the time, I appreciate when you are able to because you let me know the parts you liked about the story and your opinion of it and I really like that. I spotted some errors but I can't recall if I corrected them or not. Thanks again for your review. I was really happy to hear from you. You can review whenever you like, and when it's convenient for you :)**_

_**AndieVC: I updated quickly last time, but I was a bit slow this time. Sorry :/ Hope you enjoyed this chapter though! I'm glad you liked the first part of that chapter! The clansmen really do seem to need a reality check, don't they? Akemi and Kei are good friends to her...I'm not so sure about Kei now as he sent Anna a bag of wine...hahahah. Goro was definitely a sleazebag. I'm pleased that you found it intelligent on Anna's part to change both her personality to properly disguise herself :) Hm...perhaps Yata will buy Anna some pudding. But first he needs to understand what a neglectful clansmen he has been toward her. Flu in Winter awful and those medicines being sold don't work. The best cure for me was my mom's homecooked food! No joke lol. Well, during winter it goes down to below minus. Right now it's definitely a lot warmer with some showers so the weather is okay. I'm in New York most of the time so that's what the weather was like today for me :)**_

_**xNightDreamerx: I was really pleased with your review. I'm so happy that you enjoyed that chapter so much! I hope this chapter pleases you, especially Mikoto's reactions :)**_

_**lemonzsayzrawr: Thanks, and I'm glad you liked it :)**_

_**manga-life: I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)**_

_**AngelGirl0200: Sorry for the late update! Hope you like this chapter as well!**_

_**LindyLinn: It changed it to 'Hinata'? Lol is your phone a Naruto fan then? Hahahahaha just kidding lol. Hope you enjoyed Mikoto's threatening of how he wanted to punish Anna :)**_

_**Flower 117: I'm really pleased you like those parts and thank you for saying that that Akemi and Kei are great characters. I really appreciate that :)**_

_**creativeactive: I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)**_

_**Maya095: Sorry for updating so late! Now you understand why Mikoto was so amused. And now you know what he was gonna do ;)**_

_**laxus23: Then you need to get some more rest, my dear :)**_

_**Hannah Scholte: Thanks for your review from the sequel and I love you too :) Hm...Mikoto didn't forget that. Thankfully he didn't get that far! Make sure you get enough sleep! I hope this chapter also thrilled and excited you more :) Funny how you should mention a shower scene in the future. I do have something along those lines planned...but not exactly something lemony. You'll understand when you read it. Don't regret your request :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: I'm pleased that chapter made your friday more awesome and I hope you had a wonderful weekend!**_

_**boredatmybakery: I'm intrigued by your username. How can you be bored at a bakery? I would be drooling over all the goodies (especially cupcakes with lots of frosting) and wailing about how staring at it ruins my diet! LOL. Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I'm pleased you're keeping up with the story. Thanks so much for reviewing :)**_

_**Ambivalencia: I'm pleased that you're keeping up with the sequel, although I could have sworn that you reviewed this story before. Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the marathon! I'm sorry you don't like the way Anna developed but remember that I do give a specific warning about OOC-ness with the characters at the start of the chapter.I love the way Mikoto smirks, that's why I thought it would be interesting for him to smirk at Anna like that :)**_

**Thanks again everyone and hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Take care and God bless :)**


	13. Bathtime

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: This is a longish chapter I think, although it does not feel like that to me. This chapter has some very suggestive material in it. It also has some stuff from K:Side Red. Enjoy. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 13: Bathtime**_

_He was the most feared man in the underworld of Shizume City. _

_Grown men cowered at the sight of him._

_Animals either ran from him or bowed down before him._

_He was so terrifying!_

_Yet...there was one small girl who could wrap him around her little finger and drag him wherever she wanted to go._

_Yes, such things happened._

_He could never refuse this sweet child anything._

_All she had to do was look at him with wide, watery eyes._

_Normally, she would use 'puppy eyes' on him without the intention of being a deliberate manipulator. The truth was that her desires simply showed prominently in her eyes._

_And who could refuse her anything?_

_That would just be too mean!_

_This was how Mikoto got roped into tea parties and playing house with Anna. He had once been her wife and today he was her **baby**._

_Yes, Mikoto was Anna's **baby** today._

_While she accepted the position of 'mother' and 'wife' today, Tatara became the husband. _

_The grinning young man deliberately pinched Mikoto's cheek. _

"_Kawaii! My son is adorable!" he exclaimed._

_In response, Mikoto used the small spoon they had given him and scooped up some nasty looking baby food and splattered it on Tatara's face. _

_What were the grown men of Homra doing with baby food anyway? Well, Yata had accidentally purchased it at the convenience store without realizing what he had actually picked up. As he had nothing to do with it, he brought it to the bar._

_At first, Izumo had come up with the brilliant idea to force the next person who harmed his beloved bar to eat it. _

_Tatara, despite being a kind, often charming young man could also be terrifyingly frightening._

_How was that possible for the ever-sweet Totsuka Tatara? _

_Well, it was the way his mind worked, the ideas and pranks he came up with._

_Tatara's devious plan was for the next person who harmed Izumo's bar to play 'house' again with himself and Anna, and that person would be the baby. It would be difficult to force-feed grown men yucky baby food unless they got someone to sway them into eating it._

_And who better than Anna Kushina with the sweet aura of a child about her? No one could refuse her anything._

**_No one. _**

_Ironically, everyone was so horrified by the idea of becoming the 'baby' when playing house (more than actually eating baby food), that they behaved themselves or stayed away from the bar as much as possible when they knew they couldn't._

_That disappointed Anna a lot because she had been hoping to make another clansman her 'baby'._

_Well, there were other options. _

_On this Sunday afternoon, it had been just herself, Tatara and Mikoto in the bar. _

_Anna had two options for baby on this day: Tatara or Mikoto. _

_Anna had asked Mikoto to play. He had been about to refuse, but those wide, gray eyes just grew rounder with her desire for him to come play with them._

_How could he tell her 'no'?_

"_Fine," he gave in after a heavy sigh. "But I'm not the wife again."_

_Anna nodded as she took his hand between her little ones and pulled him the direction of the bar. _

"_I'm the wife," Anna let him know._

_Just as Mikoto was thanking God, Anna stated, "Mikoto is the baby,"_

_And that was how Mikoto now sat down with the end of a rattle stuck in his mouth instead of a cigarette while finding perverse pleasure in throwing baby food at Tatara's annoying, grinning face. _

_Mikoto scowled before dumping the spoon back into the small red plastic bowl with the rest of gunk in it. _

_Tatara, ever the good-natured one, simply used a rag to wipe away the stuff from his face. _

_Anna, on the other hand, became aware that Mikoto was becoming very uncomfortable in this situation. _

_Although she was so young, she was quite aware of the feelings of others. She reached up and took the rattle away from Mikoto._

_With eyes that were slightly lowered, she asked softly so that only Mikoto would hear, "If this too troublesome, then Mikoto doesn't have to play."_

_Really, the girl wasn't even trying to make him feel guilty and here was actually feeling like that. Mikoto heaved out a sigh and snatched away the rattle from her. He placed it in his mouth again. _

"_We're already playing," were his words._

_He saw Anna's face soften and her eyes brighten a little. _

_That was enough for Mikoto's own heart to lighten up a bit._

* * *

Indeed, when Anna was a child, Mikoto had given in to every little desire that her pure, innocent heart wanted.

As a young woman, she still had that power.

The dangerous thing was that she had sexual power over him as well. If Anna ever learned of how much he wanted her but fought it, she could use her ability as a woman to easily seduce him.

Just as he had the ability to seduce her.

The only thing that stood in their way of screwing like rabbits was Mikoto's firm stance on fighting off his feelings for her and her uncertainty about whether or not he actually wanted her.

But it was difficult to keep to his decision when she _smelled_ like him.

Yes, the scent lingering on her soft, white skin was _his_.

Being in that small room that had grown hotter with their own body heat had caused them both to sweat.

Their close up contact with each other had caused those watery drops produced from their bodies to absorb into each others clothing and skin.

For a fighter, Anna's body was rather soft.

It was supple.

Her skin was healthy, her hair was healthy. All these were the positive effects on the body of a woman who kept herself active.

And Anna _did_ have the body of a woman.

A rather sensitive body too. Mikoto was quite sure that just stroking a fingertip along the side of her stomach would turn her on.

It was hard to not think about all the different ways he wanted to have her when it was so easy to recall how her body had felt in his arms. This time, not as the body of a child, but that of a woman. Not with feelings of sweet of affection, but deep sexual ones.

"Something happened?" Izumo questioned.

Mikoto cast a sidelong glance at him. It was obvious that out of all the other people sitting in the car, the question was directed at him, the King.

Anna remained silent in the middle, not looking at either one. If anything, there was a slight furrowing of her eyebrows, indicating that she was either worried, thinking very hard about something, or both.

She had that warm blanket of hers still wrapped tightly around her, hiding from Mikoto's vision the places where his hands touched.

Well, he hadn't touched anywhere weird anyway, right?

Just her stomach and hip.

_And the side of her red panties that were just begging to be torn off. _

"What do you mean, Izumo?" Mikoto asked his friend, seeking a distraction from his thoughts about the girl he had come very close to embracing not too long ago.

"You didn't video chat with me when I called. Was something wrong with your PDA?"

"Didn't want to see your face," Mikoto answered.

Izumo let out a weary sigh. He was used to Mikoto's insults and moodiness. He had known the man for a little more than half his life and he understood that when Mikoto said something offensive to a friend for no proper reason, it was because he was just in a bad mood and wanted to be left alone.

Meanwhile, Mikoto real reason to Izumo's query was that he wasn't sure about what kind of expression he would have. The bartender was a little too quick to read into people based on what kind of facial language they displayed.

It might give Izumo a better reason to push for Mikoto to marry Anna if he figured out that his King wanted the princess so much for himself.

Ever the protective one, Mikoto still wanted to deny her and himself.

"So nothing happened?" Izumo repeated.

"Nothing," Mikoto affirmed after a heavy, irritated sigh.

_'Nothing', right,_ Anna thought.

As for herself, she twisted her legs slightly under her blanket. There was this incessant throbbing between her thighs that served as a reminder of how she had felt in her small room, alone with Mikoto. That was the result of this 'nothing' happening.

Maybe 'nothing' happened to _him_, but something sure as hell happened to _her_. The result of it was her playing back every moment he had touched her skin, when he had pressed her against his thigh, when there had been that burning sensation between her legs that made her want to have her clothing stripped from her.

The long ride home had been quiet, silent and full of tension as no one in the car seemed sure of what to say. It seemed that Fujishima also knew that she was the bounty hunter who had beat up those guys and taken hold of Takeshi for Anna could sense a lot of unease coming from him.

For Anna, the atmosphere in this car was not comfortable at all.

* * *

Finally, they drew up to Homra Bar.

"Someone will have to carry Anna," Izumo said as Yata and Fujishima unsnapped their seatbelts after the car was turned off.

"I will walk," Anna insisted. Did they think her incapable?

"It's cold and you have no shoes," Mikoto reminded her in an irritated voice.

Oh.

Anna's mouth twisted slightly as everyone opened the car doors. Before she could move, Mikoto's large figure which had just stepped out of the vehicle, leaned down and easily lifted her into his strong arms.

She was still wrapped completely in her blanket with only her white feet peeking out. Mikoto used his hip to shut the car door and immediately used his red aura to cover her toes that had furled back due to the coldness.

In response, they automatically wiggled before settling down in relief with Mikoto's warmth.

* * *

There were rare occasions when the men of Homra who frequented the bar all gathered together and there was silence.

Perhaps one reason was the time because it was already three in the morning.

Another could be because everyone had figured out that the wild bounty hunter who had captured Takeshi was actually their precious Anna.

Yata had only mentioned it to Fujishima who had been in a state of disbelief.

It was only when Izumo pulled Anna's blanket from her before she was ushered into a barstool by Mikoto did the others realize that the female fighter had been none other their princess.

Her clothes had been a dead give away.

And now all anyone could do was linger around the bar, uncertain of what to say.

Anna was berating herself for expecting them to be a pleased with her for her achievements.

Truthfully, a part of her had actually expected a more cheerful atmosphere from them. After all, they were a bunch of unruly fighters too and now that the little girl who they had always guarded was now able to fight along side them, they should be glad too, right?

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Mikoto was seated beside her with some whisky in a glass. Probably bourbon as he had a preference for it.

Izumo was quietly polishing a glass.

Anna's nerves were already on an edge and she was very irritated right now.

If she was a guy, she was quite sure that they would have been damned proud of her. But no, because she was a girl and they still had it in their minds that she was a _little_ girl, they didn't know what to do.

Anna's backpack was beside her.

She really needed something to calm herself for she decided that if no one would say anything, then _she_ would.

After all, this silent treatment, whether intentional or not, was _not_ nice.

She opened her bag and a few members glanced around at the quiet noise that broke into the bar from her motions.

Anna ignored them and pulled out a wine pack that was disguised as a juice pack.

She stabbed her straw into the top, attached her mouth to it and began to pull up the bad tasting red liquid.

Izumo paused to look at her.

With his analytical abilities, he could sense that Anna was a bit high-strung right now. It made him want to tell everyone to go home and get some rest for it was so early in the morning. Some of the guys had work.

Even Chitose had come over and he had a newborn son at home.

But Izumo knew they were not willing to leave.

And Mikoto would refuse to let Anna go to bed until she gave some plausible explanation for her actions. He was already ticked off with her for foolishly going after Takeshi. Not only that, she hid what she had been doing for the last two years from them. It was the _deceit_ that was infuriating.

While they believed she was safely tucked away in Seneca, she was gathering information and frequently going after wanted criminals. She had been putting herself in danger and she was very much aware that this was something that Mikoto got angry about. The last two times he had lost his temper with her had been for that very reason, yet she had spent the last two years silently defying him.

Anna had consumed that entire pack of juice without stopping to breathe. She therefore finished it in less than a minute and without looking, she threw the box across the room so that it landed straight through the flapping lid of the trashcan at the corner of the bar.

Everyone had observed what she had done.

Including Mikoto who watched as the empty box sailed over the room and into the bin, before he looked at Anna and blinked at her questiongly.

But she didn't even set her eyes on him as she pulled out another wine box from her backpack.

Already she was a bit tipsy. She had nothing in her stomach and she had drunken the wine all too quickly. Hence, it would absorb at a very fast rate into her bloodstream.

She deliberately stabbed the straw into the new wine box and began to drink that one down quickly.

She repeated the action once more of throwing the box across the room.

However, before she could start on this one, Izumo placed the glass he was polishing in front of her.

He added a big red swirly straw that he and Tatara used to give her when she was a child.

Back then, Izumo had found that such a straw was too child-like for a 'young lady' like Anna. It was Tatara who had to convince Izumo it was alright.

So why was he giving it to her now when she was sixteen?

Well, she already knew the answer and she told him it without a slur in her voice, "Izumo, do you know that the older I get, the more you treat me like a little girl?"

Izumo's mouth dropped open at her words. As did several of the other clansmen.

Izumo could be a bit silly and a source of humor in terms of the way he behaved about his bar, but all his clansmen had a deep respect for him.

_All_ of them.

Even Anna.

After all, he was their second-in-command. The amount of respect they paid to him was almost as much as they gave to Mikoto.

Anna had not spoken with disrespect in her voice, but the fact that she of all people actually said something like that, especially after they had all learned of what she had been doing lately, made them wonder if the intention behind her words had been to insult.

But of course it hadn't been.

"Anna, that's a bad thing to say-" Kamamoto began.

"It's the truth," Anna cut in.

Mikoto leaned on an arm and observed her.

"You know, you've got a lot to explain," he reminded her quietly.

Anna glanced at him and Mikoto could almost swear that she nearly sneered. This odd, uncharacteristic behavior of hers was what made him sit up and pay very close attention to her now.

"Uh...Anna, I'm not offended but I'm sorry if I made you feel less than what you are," Izumo told her calmly.

Even he was becoming confused now.

Anna released a weary sigh. "I don't need your apology. I understand why you did it. It's difficult to watch someone grow up I guess."

Anna finished that pack of juice. She had ignored the glass and reached in for another pack. That was when Izumo started to become suspicious. His mind ran into the day when Maria had gone into labor and he had found that tea he normally used for people with hang-overs, in the bin. He had assumed that it was Fujishima who had drunk it.

But now, based on the time line, it wouldn't make sense for it to be the animal-lover who had done so. It would actually be more plausible to assume that Anna was the one who had.

Izumo watched her as she continued to speak.

"No one's asked me yet about the bounty hunting. I suppose it's because you don't know what to ask because you would never have thought I was capable of it."

Cautiously, Izumo asked, "Would you like to explain why you did it?"

Anna's mouth twisted a little as she seemed to be thinking back on everything she had done, and was contemplating on how to say it. No one could possibly tell right now that she was more than just tipsy and very well on the verge of being drunk.

"When you sent me to Seneca, it was to protect me from the Rise but eventually you captured the mastermind behind it all. Every time I asked to come back home for good, you refused for all the flimsiest excuses. My health isn't even an issue now. Yet, you all keep insisting that I stay in Seneca. I don't know what dumb excuse you will use next when I officially graduate in the middle of the year," she answered and took a swig from her pack.

"So you became a bounty hunter to get stronger so that we wouldn't have excuses regarding your protection?" Izumo queried.

Anna nodded. "Exactly that," she sipped again. "Unfortunately, by the time I felt that I was strong enough to prove to you that I'm not a weak little girl anymore, you decided to stop taking me with you when you went bounty hunting."

"Anna-"

Anna cut off Izumo's words by tossing this wine pack in the trash bin as well. She pulled out another one but didn't drink from it.

"You gave some real lame excuses for it, you know," Anna continued. Then, she turned on her barstool and looked at the rest of her clansmen, none of who were able to meet her eyes or look at her. They all had their heads lowered. "And instead of any of you being glad that I'm not so weak anymore, that I can defend myself, you're all upset instead, and it has nothing to do with my deceit. You're angry that I'm not a child anymore."

Everyone froze, as if in a guilty manner.

"You said you were going to talk to Yuki Natsume. What about?" It was Mikoto who had asked this, and had done so in a very careful voice, but not one that was devoid of his anger.

Anna shrugged. "My options for the future. I know you all would have searched for some other excuse to send me away again so I decided that if that was the case, the best thing for me to do would be find out what I can do for myself and I would leave Homra for a long time."

"Leave? And go where?" Izumo demanded now, shocked that she was even contemplating this.

Anna glanced at him with slightly narrowed eyes. "Somewhere to become stronger. Maybe I would have settled in Seneca and continued with the bounty hunting. Once I got strong enough, I would have come back,"

"Come back?"

Anna nodded and it seemed that her eyes became a little sad then, "I would have come back here and requested to be a part of the clan again, if that was the only way you would stop acting like I should be a princess sleeping in this bar like if it was a tower, or sent away to some distant land for my protection. Because you would have sent me away, Izumo. I know it. You would have told me go to college and you would have sent me abroad if you could help it."

There was complete silence in the bar for everyone was shocked, stunned.

Had Anna really been feeling this way?

Mikoto narrowed his eyes on her. If anything, he might have become more annoyed.

He was about to speak, but Anna turned to him, "Mikoto, why did you keep the hairstyle Tatara gave you?"

Mikoto blinked at her. What kind of weird question was that? "What's wrong with my hairstyle?"

"It looks good at the front," Anna replied as she finally stabbed her straw into the juice pack, "but from the side you look like a rooster."

There were mortified gasps all around.

Mikoto's left eyebrow twitched.

What did this...this _brat_ just say to him?

"Anna, what the hell are you drinking?!" Izumo cried and snatched away her 'juice pack'. If anyone was more disturbed by Anna now, it was Izumo.

And it was not because she was drinking wine.

It was the _kind_ of wine she was drinking.

"W-What the heck are you doing drinking this unsophisticated barrel wash?!" Izumo gasped. "I taught you better than that!"

Anna's response was a drunken hiccup. It was the only indication of her current mental state that was nowhere close to sober.

Everyone began to chatter at once. Anna could barely hear them for her senses were so dulled. They all sounded like static to her mind.

Mikoto's chair suddenly screeched as he stood up abruptly.

Everyone went silent at his movement.

He was giving of a silently enraged feel that was engulfing the room.

'Rooster' was the only word echoing throughout Mikoto's mind.

Of all the things, '_rooster_' she had likened him to.

And she was drunk!

Anna just looked up at him with calm, slightly bleary eyes.

Mikoto gave a quiet growl and grasped her by the waist, throwing her roughly over his shoulder.

"Ah! Mikoto, why are you acting such a caveman again?" she asked as she pushed herself upward so that her hands were braced on his back.

"Shut up," he snapped.

The rest of clansmen looked on. Despite the plate of astonishment they had been served by Anna's admission to the reasons behind her deceit, and the almost mark on about the real reasons behind their not taking her with them, as well as her drinking right in front of them and not giving a damn, they did feel a bit of pity for her.

Who knew what Mikoto was going to do?

* * *

_Rooster-head._

Mikoto was still grinding his teeth over that ridiculous comparison Anna had drawn to his hair.

He liked his hairstyle very much and it was one of the few things everyone knew he actually favored for he hadn't changed it in many years, even after Tatara had died.

Getting drunk at sixteen was one thing (for he had been an underage drinker too), but to tell him something as...as _repulsive_ as 'looking like a rooster from the side' because of his haircut was just going too far!

Mikoto took the insulting..._creature_ straight to his room.

"Huh? What's Mikoto doing?" Anna asked, finally sounding a little slurred.

"Shut up," Mikoto snarled again, still miffed. He kicked the door to his bathroom open and slammed it shut with his foot.

He headed straight to the shower which he unceremoniously dropped Anna into. She looked at him with slightly glazed eyes.

Mikoto had realized something was off when she had started on the first juice pack because he had caught the scent of wine. At first he had assumed it was just some nasty tasting grape juice. He wasn't exactly a fan of the often purplish-red liquid but seeing her behavior and on closer look, he realized it was actually wine she was drinking.

Now, he needed to sober her up.

He still burned from her insult and therefore he would by no means be merciful in his way of getting her back to normal.

Hence, he turned on the shower and switched the water to cold.

Anna was hit by a strong, icy blast of water that nearly sent her falling backward into the tub. She cried out and after a few seconds, Mikoto shut it off.

He grabbed her by the chin with one strong hand and with a frightening glare, he demanded, "Are you sober now?"

Anna, soaked to the bone and shivering from the cold, nodded with wide eyes.

Mikoto released her.

"Good. Sit down."

"Huh?"

"Sit. Down."

Anna was surprised at his harsh words. However, after a quick glance at his angry expression and the sight of his red which had grown darker with his ire, she obeyed without a word.

She hadn't meant to drink so much, but once she had started, she couldn't stop. It was stupid of her but...what the heck.

There had been so much tension downstairs that she hadn't been able to stand it any longer and the more tense it became, the more she found herself drinking.

That was what worried Mikoto. While it did not bother him that she was already drinking, what he did find of great concern was the _amount_ she was drinking and her reasoning behind it. After her confession to them about what had been happening, he realized that there was an emotional link between her alcohol consumption and her feelings.

That was _not_ a good thing.

If she continued this way, she would end up becoming a full fledged drunkard.

And it pissed him off even more that it was Anna of all people who was not taking proper responsibility for herself.

Mikoto had Anna sit while leaning against the bathtub. His bathroom was tiled in lilac and blue. The tub was light blue.

Anna's back faced him as she waited patiently to know what he was going to do next.

Mikoto was well aware that Anna did not like deep water too much. When she was little, she often had baths in shallow water. Tatara had often tried to coerce her into having more water in her bath but she would refuse.

He knew the reason was because that psychopath, Mizuchi used to shove her into water in order to induce the feeling of drowning into her so that she would feel more pain, and the more pain she felt, the more terror of coming close to death, the easier it would be for her to use the full potential of her power.

When Anna couldn't control her powers, he had once felt an outflow of it, which was her own pain of the feeling of being drowned. The feeling of suffocation, the lack of oxygen had been something even he had found difficult to stomach.

And yet, Anna had endured for a long time.

It was no wonder she had a fear of deep water because of the trauma her past had on her.

"Tell me when to stop," Mikoto told her quietly as he turned the tap on to ensure that it reached a level she was comfortable with.

Anna sensed that Mikoto had calmed down and suspected right away that it was because he must have remembered her phobia of high water levels.

Still, he was by no means in a pleasant mood and she was quite sure his temper would flare up again soon.

Even before becoming the Red King, Mikoto had already developed a reputation for having the worst temper in all of Shizume City.

She watched as the water rose to just midway on her breasts and then she said, "That's enough,"

Mikoto nodded and switched of the tap.

"I'm sorry I said your hair looks like a rooster," Anna apologized.

Mikoto grunted as he stood up and walked to the door.

Anna looked at him from over her shoulder.

"You said it because you wanted to offend me," Mikoto pointed out as he opened the door.

Anna turned her head forward once more. She couldn't deny that. Truthfully, she had meant to tease him in her drunken state but the purpose of teasing him had been to rile him up a little. She supposed that drunk people really did do stupid things because they lost their sense of reasoning.

"It doesn't look like a rooster's," she seemed to mumble as she drew her knees up to her chest.

Mikoto switched off the light and allowed for the lighting of his bedroom to flood into the bathroom, casting a dim glow.

Before Anna could ask why he had done that, he was stooping behind her once more and his hands went under the water, soaking up to his elbows as he grasped her by the waist.

"Lift your arms," he ordered.

Anna did as she was told and immediately, his calloused hands soothed up the soft sides of her body, dragging her soaking sweater along.

He pulled them off her arms and tossed them into a soggy mess beside the bathtub.

Anna's cheeks went blood red when she felt his hand rifle through the wet mass of her hair and touch the fastenings of her bra.

He quickly unsnapped it and it made Anna wonder if he had a lot of experience doing this for he did it with such ease.

She felt a little annoyed by that.

Well, maybe in his past he did have a lot of women but she knew that this wasn't the case right now, and hadn't been for a while.

Mikoto's powers and the way they rioted had kept him celibate for the last seven or eight years. Anna would have also known if he had a woman. That was something he wouldn't have been able to hide from her because her power would have allowed her to pick up on any mood changes he had.

"Take it off now," her King commanded in a soft voice.

Once more, Anna obeyed by pulling down the straps of the black scrap of material and drawing it off. Mikoto took it from her and added it to her sweater.

"The rest."

Anna stiffed.

Mikoto touched her pale, naked shoulder with his large hand and leaned his head close to hers.

"If you don't take them off, then I will," he threatened softly.

Anna nodded quickly and obediently unsnapped her pants.

Just a few hours ago, he had done the same thing.

Unfortunately, he hadn't reached far enough to pull it down her legs as she was doing.

She sort of had to shimmy the trousers with her panties down her legs for they clung a little too lovingly to her body.

As Anna fought them off with a soft grunt, she realized that Mikoto had deliberately taken off the bathroom light and let in from his bedroom because he was forcing her to take a bath and did not want her naked form revealed to him.

He was angry, but he still respected her to ensure that her body was hidden from him.

However, that did not mean that he was going to be gentle with her.

Mikoto reached a long, muscled arm across the ledge of the tub to grasp what looked like a bottle of bubble bath. He squeezed it into the tub and immediately, bubbles formed.

Anna caught the spicy scent of it.

"Ah...this is yours," she commented.

"Who else would it belong to?" Mikoto snapped.

"I'll smell like you," Anna pointed out. She was accustomed to more mild, sweet scents like roses and strawberries.

Not musk and spice.

"It's better than you stinking of alcohol," her King shot back, making her shut up. Ah, there was the flare of temper she had known would come up soon.

She zipped her mouth tightly shut.

What did she expect from him anyway?

A little sympathy?

Yeah, she actually had thought he might understand why she did all those stupid things. Maybe he might have explained something to her.

But he didn't.

Instead he was forcing her to take a _bath_.

Mikoto grabbed her thick pile of hair into both hands and shoved it over one of her shoulders. She felt his long fingers gathering any extra strands from her back.

His hands were certainly very warm. She was quite sure he could do decent massages if he tried.

But he wouldn't attempt such things for he might break someone's back with his power.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked suddenly. It was the first time he had shoved her into the shower and forced her to take a bath.

In fact no one had ever done such a thing to her. She wasn't even quite sure if her supposedly 'stinking of alcohol' was the reason for it.

Unless he was punishing her in some way.

_Was_ he punishing her?

He had threatened to do so earlier, but planting a few slaps on her backside was different from forcing her to soak in here.

And why his bathroom anyway?

Maybe he wanted to keep a better eye on her.

Anna was startled when he picked up a washcloth and began to gently rub it in her back.

"Mikoto? Is it...alright for you to do this?" she questioned in a very hesitant manner.

"You did this for me when you were a little brat, what's the problem now?" he demanded. Yeah, definitely his mood was black right now. It would probably be best to avoid too many questions.

She remembered that incident when he gotten so drunk that Tatara and Izumo had to shove him into the bath and force him to sober up. Anna had come in to find them and Mikoto had allowed her to wash his naked back. But it was different now. She was older.

Anna had the vexing thought that maybe he still saw her as a little girl and her generous bosom and rounded backside were still flat in his eyes.

Mikoto decided to answer her earlier question.

"Your legs."

"My legs?" Anna repeated as she enjoyed his gentle administrations to his back. This didn't feel like punishment!Having the hands of her most beloved one give her a backwash could in no way be a way of discipling her! Especially when they were Mikoto's hands.

He had such large, warm, manly hands that soothed into her back as they rubbed across her skin, making her body almost shiver in delight at the places he touched.

This was dangerous and she was aware of that for her body was becoming hotter once more, just as it had earlier on.

Every touch of his, every stroke of his hands made her skin come alive.

"You used them a lot when you were fighting to take down men who were three times your size. They must hurt right now. The warm water will soothe them," he explained.

Anna blinked. Did her legs pain her in anyway?

"They don't hurt," she commented rather dubiously.

Now she did find it strange that she was not in pain. After all, it was quite true about what he had just said: there were times when she had fought opponents with larger body masses and the weight and the force it took for her to overcome them had caused her almost as much hurt as it had them. Having Satoshi and his friends start aiding them had come as a big relief for her.

In response to her words, Mikoto removed his hand that was devoid of the washcloth and placed it on her thigh.

She let out a soft gasp at the unexpected contact and had trembled slightly as his hand shifted to the middle of her thigh, shocking. Then it moved more to her innerthigh area, making her go very still. If he moved his hand upward, he would be touching a very sensitive part of her...she didn't know what that would be like, but the idea of it thrilled her.

However, his hand went to the opposite direction and grasp hold of her a bit tightly, just above her knee.

She let out a soft whimper of pain, only now realizing that it did actually hurt there.

Mikoto gave her a light nuzzle above her ear.

"Shh...it's alright," he soothed her and removed his hand, placing it at her waist.

"How did you know...it hurt there?" she asked after a small wince.

Mikoto tossed the washcloth into the bathtub. "Shouhei took a video of the fight. I saw when you used the side of your knee on one of the men. There's no way that wouldn't hurt like a bitch."

"But it only just hurt now," Anna pointed out.

Mikoto was opening a cupboard somewhere as if searching for something. She heard some rifling, a soft curse and then the door of the cupboard slammed shut, making Anna almost wince.

He was talking to her in a decent manner, and treating her wounds but Mikoto was still angry.

"You had a lot of shocks tonight. From a psychological point of view, you were in pain but you just didn't realize it and you probably wouldn't have realized it until you started to relax. I would give you some painkillers but there's too much alcohol in your system, idiot," he bit out before leaving them room.

Anna felt very sad at his words. They were spoken with harshness, and Anna knew that had she been anyone else, Mikoto would have already lost his temper with her. What she was experiencing right now was hardly the real brunt of what Mikoto was like when he was enraged.

The only thing that stopped him from beating her within an inch of her life was that she was who she was: Anna, the clan's princess and the girl who had a strong emotional attachment to him.

In other words, Mikoto was being _nice_ to her despite his ire.

She supposed he might talk to her more when he cooled off a bit. If anything, he was actually being a lot kinder than he was capable off to her.

She should be thankful for that much.

Anna picked up the washcloth and began to slowly rub it on her body.

It had been a trying a night.

Actually, the last few days had been difficult. The way her clansmen ignored her, to the fact that they came to the maid cafe only because they had been in the area, and not necessarily to see her, to her foolishness of going after Takeshi, then Mikoto finding her, her feelings for him in that small, the tension coming home, culminating with her drinking and confessing some of the burden on her heart to her clan, to this...soaking in Mikoto's bath while he tried his best to put a reign on his temper in order to take care of her.

That was strangely sweet of him.

Anna supposed that he was using his concern for her as a means of controlling himself. If he didn't, he might really find some way to torture her for all her trouble.

But even after all of this, she had expected him to give her some kind of understanding.

To say something about her confessions.

She figured that maybe when he could trust that his temper had abated, he would talk to her. She could understand and accept that.

But she was still in fearful anticipation of what he might say to her.

As well as Izumo.

Anna froze when the light was turned on again.

She blinked rapidly at the unexpected brightness. Mikoto walked up to the back of her once more and she found herself holding her breath.

What was he going to do?

Suddenly something was suddenly thrown on top of her head, momentarily covering her eyes and blinding her from the world.

She quickly dragged it off and looked it at it.

It seemed like a small, red terry cloth.

Anna looked at Mikoto from over her shoulder.

He was standing about a foot away with his muscled arms folded. "Cover yourself and move to the left of the tub and stretch out your legs."

Anna nodded and did as she was told.

The towel was small, but it did cover most of her full, round breasts, her flat white stomach and the very tops of her pale thighs. It was not long enough to go around her so it more or less lay on top of her and stuck to her after being soaked with the water.

She had blushed as she pressed the terry cloth to her.

There was no way she could feel normal about being naked in a room alone with Mikoto, to have his domineering presence fill it while her body was still reeling from the sensitivity of his touches.

Casual his contact had been, but it had been enough to make that familiar feel of desire coil in her lower stomach.

Once she shifted to the left of the tub and stretched out her long, slender legs, Mikoto drew nearer once more.

He stooped again beside the tub, close to where one of her knees was propped.

Almost in a doctor-like manner, he seemed to be inspecting it. Those golden eyes of his trailed up her thigh slightly and made a soft grunt.

He lifted his hand and poked her where his eyes were looking.

"Stop," she whispered, for it had given her a sharp stab of pain.

Mikoto didn't for he opened his hand and gently touched her there. "It's slightly swollen. It will probably go down in a few hours' time but it will leave a nasty bruise," he was saying.

His eyes travelled again down her leg. Seeing as it was devoid of any more wounds as far as he knew, he needed to look at her other leg. That was going to be a difficult task because the other leg faced the side of the tub that was against the wall.

He could always tell her to stand.

But then it would be so easy for him to peek upward and see that naked flesh of hers that was probably soft, hot and...

No, no, he chided himself and focused on his anger and overlying concern for her. Those were the feelings he currently had that prevented him from slowly peeling away that wretched towel from her body that held her tightly enough to reveal her beautiful curves to him. He could almost picture himself softly caressing that sensitive, sexy body of hers, making her breath come faster, making her whimper and moan in excitement and anticipation.

He would love to tease her and play her like an instrument. There were so many things he wanted to do that sweet body!

But he wouldn't.

He couldn't.

She wasn't even at the age of consent and they were not married.

And he was _not_ going to tie Anna to him at the age of sixteen, especially because a selfish part of him wanted to do so for it was the only way he could bind her to him and have her in almost any way he wanted.

Mikoto's thoughts were becoming a little too dangerous now and he quickly rethought about all the stupid things Anna had done in the last twelve hours or so.

As for Anna, she could have sworn that she saw Mikoto's eyes release a certain kind of heat, a light red glow.

A heat that travelled up her legs and hit her straight at the centre of her thighs while the rest of her body shook slightly.

She tried her best to keep a neutral face on as she held the terry cloth to her almost protectively. She felt as though the removal of that protective cloth would reveal all her desires to him: her swollen breasts, trembling stomach, that place between her thighs.

She instinctively pressed her hands to it more tightly and lowered her head, hoping to hide the crimson blush of desire on her cheeks.

She stiffened when she she heard and felt a small splash in the water. Mikoto had dropped one foot in, causing the water's height to increase. Anna instinctively straightened up a bit to keep abreast of it.

Mikoto glanced at her and noted this. He added in his other foot more carefully and slowly knelt on one knee.

He grasped the ankle of her foot that he had not quite inspected yet, and lifted it out of the foamy, soapy bubbles for him to have a better look at.

After another clinical inspection of the foot itself, he moved his eyes upward, lifting her foot further until just above her knee was fully removed from the water.

The slender limb could have belonged to a model for despite her thinness, her calf was perfectly curved and there was meat at her thighs. Many women who weighed as much as Anna did tended to have thighs that were skinnier than their knees.

Anna's were not like that. In fact, they were quite attractive.

But then again, everything about her was rather attractive.

Mikoto decided to lure himself away from those thoughts by looking at the bruise on her inner calf.

"You use your insteps a lot," Mikoto murmured, observing it.

Anna nodded and made a soft noise of assertion.

He twisted her leg just a tiny bit to get a better look at the outer side of her leg. Particularly around the outer side of her knee there was a bruise. She must also use her knees a lot in battle. As a woman of small stature, she was not able to pack enough punch against opponents who weighed more than her.

Where she did have force and strength was particular in joint areas such as her knees. If she couldn't smack her enemies around like her other clansmen could, then the most she was able to do was use her strength areas to hit at her enemies weak points.

There were still backlashes to her and that was how, as he had mentioned to her earlier, she wound up with these bruises.

"You don't have enough training to be a full-fledged fighter and take on enemies like Takeshi's men, Anna," Mikoto murmured and his eyes narrowed once more in anger.

Anna did not agree, nor did she disagree for she was well aware that she did not have as much muscle as most fighters to hit with enough force.

But she did have intelligence and Mikoto could at least give her credit for that. She was smart enough to decipher where she could lash out at her enemies.

It did work...most of the time.

But apparently it wouldn't have tonight had Yata and the others not intervened and unwittingly given her an opening to take down the men.

Mikoto carefully placed her foot back into the water.

He let out a soft breath before turning his eyes to her. "When I taught you to fight, it was for you to be able to protect yourself."

Anna lowered her eyes, feeling a little ashamed. It was something she had known. She could not even use the excuse that it was her aikido which she trained in school that helped her; most of the moves she used were Japanese kickboxing, taught to her by Mikoto himself.

"Do you really prefer being on the offensive side?" he questioned, meaning if she really did like getting into fights that much.

Anna shook her head. She actually didn't care to fight. "It served a means to an end," she replied.

She used it like training in order to improve herself for a real fight. She also did this to add to her income so that she could maintain a certain standard of living for herself in Seneca.

A rather _independent_ way of life.

Anna blinked at an abrupt movement by Mikoto. She saw him pull the hem of his white t-shirt upward.

What was he doing?

Anna inhaled sharply as he swiftly stripped himself of the article of clothing and tossed it into the pile with her wet ones.

Anna's eyes widened at the sight of him.

When she was little, Mikoto's chest had been a warm, comfortable place. Cuddling against it made her feel safe.

Now that she was older, she found herself in awe of how there did not seem to be a shred of fat on that chiseled torso of his. His skin was perfected tanned just like the rest of his body. There was also this healthy tone to it.

He was muscled, but not overly so. He had the build of a fighter who specialized in hand to hand combat, meaning that his body's mass was perfectly in proportion for every part of him was required to train properly for battles.

Anna realized that the sogginess of his t-shirt might have started to irritate him. As he was never to tolerate annoying things, he simply removed it.

The young girl watched as he turned around and picked something else from the ledge of the tub. Really, he did not have anything related to 'fat' on him. All she could see was skin, muscle and bone. Wouldn't it be nice to slowly run her fingers along the long lines of his flat stomach, especially around his hips? She found the idea of touching his skin to test its smoothness and texture very...enthralling.

Mikoto had a fascinating body.

A _manly_ body.

And it was not like she had never seen a guy's body before (not including the full frontal view of Yata when she was seven) because living in a clan of many handsome young man did warrant her an interrupted view of their masculine chests and thighs, especially when they went to the beach.

But Mikoto's was far by the most attractive one to her.

In fact, she had never given any kind of real thought to the others, for her in her eyes, Mikoto's body was the only one she wished to look upon.

She quickly averted her eyes from him a he held a small jar in his hand.

"What is it?" she queried.

"Epsom salt. It will help ease the pain," he replied and opened the jar. He shook some about in the bath, particular where he legs were, then he covered the jar and set it aside.

He now reached for her and caught her wrist in his.

He observed it.

Her knuckles were slightly red from the punching she did in the fight. He turned her hand and saw red marks at her wrists that clearly indicated that she had chafed them.

"These came from the bindings, didn't they?" he murmured softly, observing the marks quietly.

Anna paused and then nodded slowly.

"I see."

Then he lowered his head so that his warm lips could gently touch the marks, perhaps as an offer of apology for his roughness.

He drew back and stood up.

As he did so, water poured down from his arm, part of his torso and legs from the submersion of those parts of his body. It was like watching a warrior rise up from the depths of some watery abyss he had been sent to.

The way the water was able to drip down his gorgeous body made her almost envious of the nonchalant ease they could touch him so closely while she had to recline in a small corner of the tub because she was afraid of that he would despise her for her embarrassing feelings for him.

The want of having him touch her in the most non-platonic way as possible.

Mikoto stepped out of the bath.

"Stay in here for a few minutes," he ordered.

He walked over to where she was sitting in the tub and reached down. He brushed her hands aside and grasped one edge of the small towel.

He stripped it quickly from her body and turned away, careful not to eye those perfect breasts that were bobbing above the layer of soapy water.

He tossed the terry cloth with the rest of soaked clothes.

Then, he reached for the shower curtain and pulled it around her, hiding her from his view. There used to actually be an entire glass screen blocking off the area where the shower and bath was.

Unfortunately, Mikoto accidentally broke it when he shut the door too hard...

Therefore, he had to make do with the shower curtain unless he decided to go out and get the materials and replace the glass door himself.

But Mikoto was not really a man who cared about such things.

He was perfectly fine with the shower curtain anyway. Besides, it was his own personal bathroom. The only other person who ever came in there was Anna.

And this was probably the first time she had ever really used it albeit against her will.

Anna heard Mikoto unbuckling his belt, followed by the sound of him shucking off his jeans. They were wet as well so he probably wanted them removed as soon as possible.

Then, she heard him gather their dripping clothing and walk out the room.

Anna let out a soft sigh as soon as he disappeared. She was sleepy, she was weary and her body ached. She did stupid things for emotional reasons but she could not say that she truly regretted her actions. The only thing she disliked was the way her clan had found out about her activities.

She didn't know what they were thinking now, or if they even had a proper conception of how they had hurt her. They didn't even know everything-they just knew one aspect of what was causing her misery.

Anna picked up the washcloth once more and began to clean her body with it.

She was washed of sweat and dirt right now, and yet she smelled off Mikoto. He was soaked into her hair and directly into her skin.

Well, not exactly _him_ but a scent that often lingered on him.

Mikoto was never one to bother with commercialized products, but he did accept whatever made him clean.

Maybe he did have a preference for this particular brand for he often had the scent of it linger on him. This was because for as long as she had known him, he had the scent of this product on him. It was not famous but it served its purpose. In terms of quality, it was actually a lot better than most foreign, over-commercialized junk that were sold at high prices.

This was a pure Japanese product that did a better job than most imported goods but because it was cheaper than the foreign goods, many people assumed that the quality was lower when it was actually higher.

Anna thought that was really sad.

At least Mikoto supported the local Japanese companies by purchasing their products because they worked well and not because of their price.

Anna heard the curtain shift again and she saw Mikoto once more. He had a thick white towel around his hips.

Aside from his chest, Mikoto's naked legs were also rather well muscled. They looked hard, and she knew they were.

While most of his body except his head had hair, his legs did. There was a light growth of red hair along his legs.

Some people disliked body hair.

But on Mikoto, Anna found it just made him look more masculine.

She turned her head away and blushed at her thoughts.

Mikoto stooped beside the tub once more and reached into the water, right between her thighs.

Anna froze, wondering what the heck he was doing. She could actually feel his hand pressing against one inner thigh!

However, she got her answer when she heard a soft 'plunk' and he lifted out a black plug on a thin silver chain. It was what had been covering the hole in the tub to prevent the water from draining out.

"Rinse out now and do it quickly," he said to her before pulling the shower curtains into place once more.

Anna nodded and turned on the shower, allowing a warm spray to wash the soap from her body. A fluffy, dry, white towel was thrown over to her when she turned off the shower. She caught it and wrapped it around her body.

Then, she cautiously peeked from behind the the curtain. She saw Mikoto leaning against the sink with his arms folded waiting ever so patiently for her.

As if sensing her gaze his eyes shot to hers.

Startled, she drew back.

"Are you done?"

"Yes," she replied, her heart still beating fast.

"Come here then."

Why did she feel like a cautious little prey, hiding from a moody lion?

Probably because she was the prey right now and Mikoto _was_ the moody lion. Mikoto very angry and it seemed that he was just biding his time right now.

If anything, he was even more infuriated than he had been when they were still in Seneca.

Carefully, she drew back the curtain and was about to step out.

However, she seemed to be moving to slowly for Mikoto for he reached his strong hands through the curtains and caught her by the waist.

She gasped as he pulled her out of the tub and set her on her feet.

To her mortification, her towel started to come apart with his rough movements. Before she catch hold of it, Mikoto did.

She looked up at him, watching as he retucked the loosening lapel over the other, hiding her body from him.

"Mikoto?"

"Dry off and wear this," he told her, handing her what looked like a black, long sleeved t-shirt. There was some fancy white writing on it in Latin that Anna did not understand, but it was obviously belonged to Mikoto for he liked these casual styles.

"But...what about my own clothes?" she asked after taking the shirt.

In response, Mikoto slowly slid an arm around her waist and drew her into his arms. Neither were aware of how intimate they looked right now. Anna, as she was small woman, reached Mikoto a little under his chest. She was slim and pretty, with a mass of thick white hair. She was like a beautifully crafted doll who little girls would love to dress up in all sorts of different clothing, and she had the curves that made many men long to caress.

Mikoto was tall with fiery red hair and a well honed body. He was holding this slender woman in his arms. She seemed to fit perfectly against him and the way he looked at her, despite the menace in his golden eyes would make an outsider realize that he wanted her.

He desired her.

Mikoto was aware of his want for her, but he was fighting it and using his anger to push down those feelings. He did not want that combination of lust and rage to overtake him as it had earlier for he had practically lost his senses when he had done so.

If Izumo had not called at that time, Anna's virgin blood would have stained her own bedsheets because he would loved her until he carved himself into her heart, mind and body.

_That_ was how much Mikoto wanted her.

And just as much as he wanted her, it was much as he was going to continue to fight himself.

Mikoto caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger with his free hand. With a rather threatening look, he told her in a low, rough tone, "If you don't put it on, I will put it on for you. Would you like that?"

Anna's cheeks reddened. If he was her lover, sure.

But he wasn't.

He was Mikoto and he was in a very bad mood right now. There was no way that him stripping her off her towel and forcing her into his clothing was going to be a good experience.

She quickly shook her head.

"Good. Put it on and stay in my room. You're not leaving there."

"But-"

"Do it," Mikoto snapped and let her go.

Anna nodded quickly and hurried out the door, closing it behind her.

As soon as she was safely away from him, Mikoto let out a sigh of relief. For a moment he thought that she might have said 'yes' to him about putting on the t-shirt for her.

The sight of her naked body would have indeed made him lose his mind.

* * *

Mikoto's shirt was soft, and it smelled like him.

Sure every part of her smelled like his bubble bath, but the shirt had Mikoto's own natural scent on it. The one she was more accustomed to.

The shirt was long and reached her mid-thigh. It was loose around her entire body, but it was soft and comfy. Mikoto was known for wearing clothing that was more comfortable than stylish. Despite this, the way he carried about himself in casual wear was the what made him look stylish.

What the bug relief for her was that her legs did not hurt as much before. They ached a little but the warm water and epsom salt helped her.

As Anna sat on his sofa, she pushed some of her thick hair over one shoulder and was pressing the towel into it, trying to get it to dry off properly.

She also needed to comb it out. She looked around and saw Mikoto's brush on his desk. He wouldn't care if she used it.

Anna was...unhappy right now.

She didn't know why Mikoto trapped her here. Maybe he was going to kill her as she was his prey right now.

But of course that wasn't true.

As she walked over to his desk and picked up his hairbrush, she saw strands of bright red hair in it. She could see almost everyone for her eyes could decipher their color so easily.

And a drop of water slid down her cheek and fell onto her hand on the area between her forefinger and thumb.

Why was she crying?

Because she was so emotionally over-wrought, so confused right now, exhausted and fed-up. It felt like everything that had been on her heart all these months had piled up and tonight was her tipping point.

She felt like she couldn't handle this confusion anymore, and this tension between her and her clansmen was just making her uncomfortable. She was quite sure that they didn't think she had any reason at all to feel left out by them when they went out on assignments without her because they thought in their hearts that they were doing what was best for her under the flimsy guise that she needed 'rest'.

Since when was she a bloody invalid?!

Never once had they asked what _she_ wanted.

Her clansmen did a lot for her, but sometimes they were a little too damned hard headed for their own good.

Anna lifted the brush and began to stroke it through her hair.

Mikoto's grouchiness was not helping her.

Forcing her to stay here as well when she just wanted to runaway from him in hopes that her desire for him would dissipate.

Well, it was ebbing away anyway with her misery.

She knew that she could not show Mikoto her crying face. She didn't know if she would have the right words to say to him, to explain and it would probably just get him more frustrated and angry. She didn't want to risk that.

So, ever so carefully she slipped back into that person she used to be.

The child who wore a mask.

Whose doll-like expression was used to carefully guard her heart from the rest of the world.

To hide her feelings so that they would not spill out and hurt others.

To become numb to everything.

She needed to do this right now because she had no other way of presenting herself to Mikoto without getting him more annoyed with her.

More than anything right now, she did not want to burden him with her feelings that he was not in a frame of mind to tolerate.

She only hoped that if he was making her stay here, he would give her a hug or a little kiss. Maybe even a nuzzle to get her to sleep. She was quite sure her heart would calm down if he did that.

If he didn't...she didn't think she had in her to ask him out of concern for what his mood was right now.

Anna heard the door open behind her.

She had just finished combing out her hair which was still a bit damp. She did not have a blow dryer and Mikoto knew it would not be good for her to go to bed with her hair still like that.

Anna carefully set aside the brush and waited for Mikoto to come to her.

She was setting at the chair behind his dresser, looking at her own mannequin-like face in the mirror.

Mikoto appeared behind her, standing tall. His body smelled of soap and clean water.

As did she.

He was wearing a black armless shirt and matching pants of a soft material to sleep in.

Mikoto released some of heat so that a red aura came around her hair. She closed her eyes as she felt the warmth penetrate the strands of her hair and dry it out.

Thankfully, her hair never frizzed no matter how hot it was so her hair remained a silky mass.

"Will you let me go to my room?" she questioned blankly.

Mikoto cocked an eyebrow at her.

This was familiar. He had not seen this emotion-less behavior from her in...years.

"No, you're remaining here."

"Why?"

"Punishment."

"That does not sense."

Mikoto shot her a glare in the mirror.

He caught her arm and pulled her to her feet. With fierce eyes, he said to her, "I don't forget when a clansman of mine deceives me, Anna and you're no exception. You're going to stay right where I can see you until I think you've learned a thing or two about being responsible for yourself and not going about deliberately getting yourself in situations to get your backside kicked,"

He let her go then and walked over to his couch.

"You know why I did it," Anna pointed out.

Mikoto snorted as he dropped himself into the couch. "That does not change the fact that you damned well how much I hate it when you put yourself in danger and nearly get your ass burned for it. Yet, you went ahead and did what you wanted-_behind_ my back. I'm your King, Anna. Don't you think I have a right to be angry with you right now?"

Well, he did have a valid point there.

Anna decided that maybe when he calmed down, they could talk a little more and for his sake, she would hide up this hurt for now. He had managed to keep his head intact long enough to take care of her and her wounds. That was like watching a miracle unfold for Mikoto would never show such endurance for anyone.

She did want his warmth, his scent, his affection. She wanted him to surround her and enfold her in the comfort of his arms and the heat of his body.

But he wasn't in a mood to give that to her now.

Anna turned away and moved to the bed.

"Why are you acting like that?" Mikoto demanded, even more riled up with this attitude she was showing.

Anna climbed onto the bed. He did not need to mention that he would not be sleeping there. She already knew.

"How am I acting?"

"Like a mannequin."

"I'm not acting like a mannequin," Anna denied in that childish tendency she had. It was normally amusing, but right now it wasn't.

Mikoto muttered something under his breath and stretched out on the sofa. His long legs hung over the side and he didn't seem to care about using a blanket either.

Meanwhile, Anna pulled the covers over her and turned the other way, with her back facing Mikoto.

It was only then she let some feelings show: her eyes squeezed tightly shut and she bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

Then she closed her eyes and hoped to sleep.

* * *

Izumo tsked at the juicepack in his hand. Anna probably had a lot of it in her backpack. He made note to throw that in the bin as well. Such low quality junk was unworthy of his establishment, and unworthy of Anna.

"Kusanagi-san, did not taking her out with us when we went bounty hunting affect her that much?" Kamamoto asked when he came up to the bar.

Izumo let out a sigh. "No," he answered as he recalled the conversation he had with Kei earlier on. "there's much more to it than that."

"_Thank you for bringing me back here," Kei said to Izumo while Akemi went to get him some medication and make them both a cup of hot tea for it was so cold outside. They were sitting in Kei's living room. _

"_Well, I've had to see Anna suffer a bit with anemia herself. Not easy at all," Izumo remarked. Akemi had returned and handed him a cup of tea. _

"_Oh, thank you my dear. I must say, you've grown up to be very beautiful," the bartender complimented her._

_In response, Akemi blushed deeply. "Thank you, Kusanagi-sensei."_

"_Hey, he's not 'sensei' anymore," Kei reminded her. Kei sent a cold look Izumo's way that reminded him very much of the way Tatara had once looked at him for giving Anna a flirtatious smile when she was little. Of course that smile hadn't been meant to seduce her, it was just his way of trying to get to be comfortable around him because he hadn't had much experience in dealing with children at that time, and a flirty smile was the best he could come up with._

_The only difference between Kei's cold stare and Tatara's was the touch of jealousy attached to the younger man's expression. _

_Akemi shot Kei a glare. "Oh shut-up. You were still calling him sensei earlier on too."_

_Kei made a soft 'Hmph' and turned his head aside._

_In response, the blue eyed girl sighed and walked over to him, setting his tea before him and ruffling his hair slightly. _

"_I'll get your meds for you," she softly informed him._

_Kei returned his attention to her, and gave her a nice smile. She returned it and walked away. _

"_You both have a lovely relationship. Are you finally together?" Izumo questioned._

_Kei, who had been about to pick up his tea, nearly spilled it. "Wha-me and Akemi? No, no. we're just friends," the young man assured him._

_Izumo shrugged. "Well, if you say that's what you are, that is what you are."_

_Kei nodded._

"_What I want to talk about is Anna. We are aware of what she has been doing lately and we've only found out yesterday. I'm sure you know why...and I'm also sure you might have some insight on her state of mind."_

"_State of mind?" Kei repeated._

_Izumo nodded before drinking some of his tea. "Maybe her behavior is different when she is with you and Akemi-san, but when Anna is home, she feels different. It's not like she's a different person, but I feel like she hides up a lot about herself from me and that she isn't happy at all,"_

"_She **isn't** happy," Kei affirmed._

_Izumo's eyebrows rose. "She isn't it?"_

_Kei shut his mouth then. He remembered that night they had gotten drunk and all the things Anna had confessed to him as she had mistaken him for that dead young man who had loved her so much. _

"_Kei, if Anna has taken you into her confidence about something then I cannot force you to tell me, but I would appreciate if you could tell me what you know."_

_Kei glanced at him with uncharacteristicly serious eyes. Those kind of eyes were very similar to the way Tatara used to look when serious, and that was on rare occasions for the young man was often laughing and smiling. _

"_I don't believe for a minute that you wouldn't force me. I've been to Shizume City and I know the stories of the hot blooded Red Clan. If I don't tell you here, you will find a way to make me talk, especially since it concerns Anna. I don't know much about her position in your clan but I know she's very important. You wouldn't be here right now if she wasn't."_

_Kei was certainly a lot smarter than he let on. _

_Izumo smiled, but it was a bit forced for the room had suddenly become more tense. He set down his cup in front of him. _

"_Kei, I'm sure we can work something out. You are very correct in saying that she is important to us and therefore you must understand that we need to know what's wrong so that we can help her."_

_Kei was quiet for a moment. Slowly, he responded, "Then you must know that as a person who has good friends, how important it is to not say things without their consent. If Anna wanted to speak to you, she could have done so a long time ago, but she didn't say anything."_

_Izumo was getting frustrated here. _

_However, Kei continued, now looking Izumo straight in the eye, "But I'm worried about her too. I won't tell you everything without her permission, but I will tell you that misses you. All of you,"_

_Izumo frowned. "She said this to you?"_

_Kei shook his head. "I saw into her dreams one night. We normally have pizza on certain nights and we-myself, Anna and Akemi, sometimes fall asleep while watching a movie when we have the pizza. Somehow, I saw her dreams and I saw all your clansmen."_

_Izumo nodded. "Do you have any idea how much she's hurting for you all?" Kei asked him._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I'd go as far as to say that Anna grieves to be among you all, and she misses that guy who you mistake me for, a lot more than she lets on."_

Yes, this was more than just a case of Anna just being upset because they did not take her out with them. There was a lot more to it than Izumo had originally thought. There were things that he to admit that he, as her parent and guardian, did not consider and it was only after his discussion with Kei, he was finally able to analyze where Anna's frame of mind was exactly.

And it was not good.

He needed to speak to Mikoto and he had hoped that the King would come down soon.

But it did not look like that was going to happen now. It was already four in the morning and several clansmen had made makeshift beds around the bar to sleep in. Only Chitose had been forced to leave because had his wife and son to think about, but had already decided to come back later when he got the chance.

They were all very concerned about Anna.

So worried that they were spending the night here.

Izumo let out a sigh, deciding that he should dig up a futon and take a nap as well. He was in no condition to drive home for his eyes were closing on him.

There were a lot of misunderstandings between Anna and her clansmen and it was vital that it be cleared up...so that his clansmen could overcome some of their stupidity and Anna could get a better hold of her sanity.

"Hey Kusanagi-san...Anna's changed so much, hasn't she? She's someone we don't know anymore," Yata was telling him in a sad, sleepy tone.

Izumo shook his head. "I don't think Anna's personality itself has changed, Yata-chan. She did things in a certain way as a response to situations she was put it. She just learned different skills and techniques to help herself carry out a certain kind of lifestyle. Just as if you want to become a carpenter, you have to learn all the skills you need to become a one. But that doesn't necessarily change who you are. Who Anna is, is still the same person. Underneath that individual we saw today, Anna is still the same person."

* * *

Mikoto began to dream, but immediately he knew it was not his dream. Every single person had a different 'feel' to their dreams.

At least that was Mikoto thought because it always felt different when he stepped into Anna's dreams and when she stepped into his.

It was dark in this place and all he could see was several branches in front of him, as if hiding him. The branches had thorns on them as well, as if preventing him from going further.

That was when he saw them.

Anna.

Anna who was dressed in her old red and black lolita dress with her little hat at an odd angle on her head.

His cute little Anna, his cub.

But to her side, he saw the man who he hoped he would never see again.

Mizuchi.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts on this chapter. It's very late for me and I lack sleep. I checked for errors, but I more than likely missed a couple (as usual). Forgive me for that, will sort that out after I get some rest. **

***The parts with Anna's fear of deep water I took from K:Side Red, and I made as an assumption from the recent chapter (13) I think from K:Memory of Red. I think the latest chapter should be out now, or probably tomorrow and it will be the last chapter of the manga. This makes me depressed...**

**Mizuchi is also the bad guy from K side red. **

****The chapter to refer back to from Growing Pains on when Anna had washed his back is the beginning of Chapter 40.**

*****About the opening, because some readers wanted me to write in Mikoto as having the role of the baby, I saw this as a good opportunity to bring it in. Hope you enjoyed it :)**

******Thank you, all of you who follow, reviewed and favorite this story.**

**For those who reviewed:**

_**Indochine: I'm sorry for the long wait on the last chapter, but I tried not to be too long on this one. Oh yeah, it really seems like Anna wants to the submissive one *wink* I'm glad you liked that scene with Mikoto and Anna. As you can see, some of the talk was for this chapter. Next chapter will have a lot more. I hope you enjoyed the bath scene though, and thought it was sexy enough too :) Thanks for reviewing. **_

_**DBerryNia: I'm pleased that you liked that scene. I agree, Mikoto and Reisi sometimes do remind me of Fushimi and Misaki...only a younger, more amateur version of the two. Hahaha. I love them all though. Did I evoke some tears from you? Let me know, because the next chapter is going to being a bit angsty as well. Aw I didn't think you were ranting! I loved hearing from you! Thanks for such a nice review :)**_

_**LindyLinn: I'm glad you thought it was a sexy chapter :) My Iphone's autocorrect got me really annoyed when I first got it...now I realize how convenient it is! Lol, I'm a fan of ItaSaku right now. I know it's a crazy pairing but I love the two of them.**_

_**xNightDreamerx: I'm pleased that you thought so well about the chapter. It's good know that despite the many times I had to write it over you really enjoyed it. That means a lot to me. Well, this chapter has some revelations in it, but not all. The next chapter will have a whole lot more. Well, I spent nearly two weeks writing over the chapter four times so it may not be that great of a feat I did :)**_

_**LadyCassie: I'm glad you liked their relationship development. oscar! Cool name. OMG, he was attacked by a doberman? I'm so sorry to hear that. Was he alright after getting attacked? And were the owners of the doberman sorry about it? Because it is illegal isn't it to allow a dog to run around on public property (like the road) without a collar or a leash?**_

_**Hannah Scholte: I agree with you on creativity at being at its peak at night! It's so much quieter and there's less bothersome people around...it's the perfect time to be creative! Unfortunately for me, I used to stay up all night and sleep all day and all the bothersome things during the day prevented me from getting enough rest and I ended up getting sick a lot :/ I'm glad you like how Anna turned out and that you're pleased that she's a stronger person now, because as she explained in this chapter, that was her very reason for carrying out bounty hunting behind their backs. I actually made sure to put that threat in the prequel because I thought it might come in handy in the sequel. And it did! If you were Anna, it might probably a different kind of feeling when Mikoto threatens that on you ;) Chitose's son might show up a lot more later on when he's older :)**_

_**AngelGirl0200: THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING AND YOUR REVIEWS ALWAYS PUT A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE AND MOTIVATE ME TO OVERCOME ANY WRITER'S BLOCK I MAY DEVELOP! No lie. Once I know people enjoy my work, I tend to put more effort into it. I hope you liked this chapter too :)**_

_**manga-life: Sorry for the long wait, but hope it was worth it :) I'm glad that you thought it was very well written. Oh Anna will find out certain things and you might like it when she finds out *hint* *hint* :P**_

_**creativeactive: Hope you really enjoyed it, as well as this chapter. Let's hope they don't until they get married :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: Okay, if you're underaged, please don't tell me. It will make me feel a lot more uncomfortable about writing rated material if I am aware that you may a bit too young to be reading it. I'm really glad though that you do take responsibility for yourself by skipping through a scene if it's too explicit. I was actually exposed to explicit images when I was about ten or eleven and it didn't seem like something harmful to me. But later on, I wish that I had never seen such things at such a young age because the innocence it took away from me is something I will never get back. Sorry for sounding so...depressing:/ Lol. I'm pleased that you liked the 'Sad Kitty' Anna part and i'm glad that you had a great weekend. oh, home work ruins everything :( No matter what age I am, I cannot view homework as something pleasing to me. Even at a University level, I hate all these stupid assignments... they're such a hassle :(**_

_**Arius the Heretic: It seems like you really enjoyed that roller coaster ride! I'm glad you did!**_

**Thanks again for reading. **

**God bless :)**


	14. Trauma and Trust

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: There may be a slight OOCness on the part of Anna in this chapter, but you will understand why. I think given the circumstances, she would react this way. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 14: Trauma and Trust**_

Dreams were not well understood by scientists. Yet, they were linked to many aspects of a person's well-being. They revealed what a person's true inner thoughts were and were often believed by researchers to serve the means of the recycling old thoughts, to get rid off excess feelings in order for the mind to feel refreshed. It was considered a way of relieving the mind of burdens, and those who were depressed were often thought to dream more.

Sometimes dreams were referred to as a way for supernatural communication, whether it be by God or by evil spirits.

Why, even Anna had visions via dreams.

So fascinating they were!

But dreams were also a horrible way of reliving nightmares, of seeing things that one never wanted to see again.

Of having one's worst feelings come through.

People who suffered trauma often had this happen to them.

Anna was a person who had terrible dreams. Some of them would start off really good. Sometimes she would dream of her family: her parents and aunt.

But then she would awaken and know they were gone from her life. Even her pleasant dreams sometimes allowed her to wake up to a harsh, inconsolable reality.

There were times when there were other people from her past who she never wished to see again appeared in her dreams.

People like Mizuchi.

* * *

Mikoto knew that the Mizuchi he was seeing was not the real man himself. That man was in the custody of the Gold King right now. If he had been the real Mizuchi, Mikoto would have sensed him as a separate conscience in Anna's mind.

What Mikoto _did_ understand about dreams-having had quite a few bad ones themselves-was that for a person or a hated enemy to appear in them could be a representation of one's negative feelings. For such emotions to be represented by Mizuchi in Anna's dreams, this made Mikoto realize that Anna's heart was in terrible turmoil now.

He had to call out to her, and put a stop to this dream at once. He would make her talk to him when she woke up, let her voice what she was feeling so that he could understand and help her.

They would _all_ help her.

They were family after all.

However, as Mikoto was about to call out Anna's name, something clamped over his mouth. Branches grew and surrounded his body, restricting him, silencing him in the darkness of this place.

Mikoto cursed and struggled, but he was bound too tightly.

Dreams were tricky things and the person with the most control in the dream was the person to whom it belonged.

This meant that some part of Anna was aware of his presence, but she did not want to listen to him.

All Mikoto could do now was look on.

Mizuchi had a kind smile on his face as his hand slowly moved to grip Anna's throat.

"You want me to kill you this time don't you? Shall I strangle you? Or shall I burn...or perhaps drown you."

Anna did not look up at him with fearful eyes. Instead she looked at him blankly.

Mizuchi continued to speak. "Have you reclined yourself back into that shell yet? That shell which guards your heart so that you cannot feel?"

The older man looked a bit thoughtful. "Or how about instead of hiding your feelings, I completely annihilate them?"

The young girl did not say anything.

A bathtub formed beside Anna. It was when Mizuchi lifted her by the neck that she began to struggle.

"Why are you fighting? Isn't it death you wish for?"

He shoved her into the bathtub that was overflowing with water, submerging her completely and holding her down.

Mikoto struggled against these bindings as he watched Mizuchi killing her.

Whether or not this was Anna's dream, it was still a nightmare for Mikoto to look at this.

"Don't you want to die Anna? Don't you want to kill off yourself? This person that is you who thinks and feels and has hopes and dreams?"

Anna's was losing her breath as she struggling. She heard every word Mizuchi spoke. He pulled her up from the water and loosened some of his hold on her.

She gasped for breath, taking in deep lungfuls of air.

"You stupid girl," Mizuchi scolded. "why are you fighting it? Why do you still try to be this girl? You're not little anymore. Your clansmen know it. Your King knows it."

The bathtub disappeared from around Anna and suddenly her clothes were dry again. She was half lying on the ground, slightly leaning up on her forearms, still breathing hard.

"It's why they don't like you anymore, isn't it?"

"New Year's..." Anna began but Mizuchi cut her off with thunderous roar of laughter.

"New Year's?! You idiotic child! They just did what they had to do! Do you think they would have paid you any mind had Izumo not be the one to ask them to play that silly game? What would have truly happened Anna? Tell me why don't you? Oh you won't? Come now Anna, is it that hard to admit that they would just gotten drunk and passed out? They would have forgotten you just like they always had!"

Anna turned her head away but Mizuchi grasped her by the back of her hair and forced her to look forward now as he stooped down beside her.

"Look you ignorant bitch. Can't you see what they did? Are you going to forget how many times you wanted to spend time with them but they ignored you? See there," he nodded to a scene that began to form before them.

Mikoto noted that the images came up like flames that formed the people in the scenes.

He was shocked at what he was viewing now.

_Anna was fifteen years old and she was knocking on his bedroom door. _

"_Mikoto," she called softly._

_He did not respond. _

"_I know you're awake," she said. _

_Still no answer._

_Anna released a soft sigh and turned away, realizing that it made no sense to continue to ask him to come out. _

_She decided to make her way downstairs only to find an empty bar._

_Her stomach growled. It was one of those days when she was actually hungry. Anna went to the refrigerator and opened it up to see if there was anything edible. There truly was not because Izumo had to do some shopping. This was the second time for the morning that she had checked and there still was not anything._

_She sighed. She would have to go out and she was hoping Mikoto would come along because he had to eat too, but he was content with sleeping like a lazy lion._

_She supposed it would be convenience store food for her today. _

Yet another memory came up, of that very same day when Yata decided to drop by.

"_Hey Anna, where is Mikoto-san?" he questioned._

"_He's still asleep," she responded. _

_The skateboarder looked slightly disappointed. "Is that so? Tell him I dropped by then," _

"_Where is Misaki going?" Anna questioned as she accepted it. _

"_Game centre with Kamamoto! There's a new shooter game and I'm going to show that summer-time skinny dude who's the boss!" Yata exclaimed and ran off._

_Anna couldn't even lift a hand to stop him._

"_Can't I...come along?" she murmured._

"See? Mikoto didn't even think about you. And those guys didn't even want you with them. But it's happened so often, hasn't it, Anna?" Mizuchi mocked her as more images formed, showing to Mikoto all the times she wanted to come home, all the times the guys ignored her.

"_Sorry Anna, there's a new restaurant in town I want to review!" Kamamoto apologized and hurried off. _

"_I'm going to a competition in the UK, Anna," were some words to her from Yata. _

"_I have to go back to work," Eric let her know._

"_My girlfriend's waiting on me," Shouhei informed her. _

"_I promised to take you to the animal shelter today? Sorry...the kittens needed me."_

"_My hat got damaged."_

"_I'm getting a new jacket."_

Those were all the words of Mikoto's clansmen spoken to Anna on the days when she came back home from Seneca.

"They're just busy," Anna whispered as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Yes, too busy for you. They obviously don't need you, do they? Can't you see that? Just the other day you thought things were fine, but when you went to get your motorcycle license, they all told you they were busy before you could even explain what you wanted. Even Mikoto ignored you!" Mizuchi cackled.

"I'll get stronger, and I'll come back," Anna was telling Mizuchi as tears began to stream down her eyes.

"Don't be a fool!" he snapped and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her up to her feet, making her cry out in pain.

A mirror drew up before them. One that was life sized.

And suddenly, the person who was supposed to be Mizuchi, was not him any longer.

It was Anna, the sixteen year old girl she currently was.

This older Anna released the younger one.

"You look like this," she told her younger counterpart bitterly. "you're not a little girl anymore and they're not treating you like that anymore. Grow up, idiot. Stop clinging to the past and keep on thinking that they still care for you. Leaving and coming back won't change a thing. They won't even bother with you when you're the princess of the clan. Imagine how much worse they will treat you when you return to become nothing more than another clansman with no real rank. You've become _nothing_ to them."

Little Anna shook her head away and stepped back. "You're wrong. Izumo cares."

"How long will it take for him to do the same thing as well? When will you learn? Everyone abandoned you and he will do so eventually as well!"

"But I started it. I was the one who went to work in Seneca first," Anna pointed out. "maybe I just come back at the wrong time, when they're all busy."

Older Anna looked upon her younger form with cold eyes.

Mikoto was still struggling with his bindings as he understood what the two Anna's represented. Little Anna was the 'real' Anna: the one who had hopes and wants and desires as the Mizuchi form had stated earlier. She was their Anna who was neat, dainty and sweet.

The older Anna had first appeared as Mizuchi because he represented trauma from her past and in this dream. This therefore confirmed that he had represented Anna's painful emotions.

But in truth those negative feelings were the part of Anna's conscience that was desperately trying to protect her and her very sanity.

It seemed that the older Anna was trying to kill off her feelings and the way to do it was to convince the real Anna to do so. She was convincing Anna to change and become someone else. She was trying to say that in order to survive, it was better to erase who she was and become nothing but a cold hardened shell so that she would not have to feel hurt by anyone anymore.

"That's just a lame excuse and you know it. They're conveniently busy every time you come home. They don't want you. Just kill it off. Let's go away to that place, why don't we? Let's retreat behind that shell. Let me kill those bonds with those who hurt you and then we'll become numb...numb to the world."

The smaller Anna nodded and she slowly grew so that she was now her actual age. This 'real' Anna allowed for that part of her conscience that appeared before her to wanted to protect her to grab hold of her neck. 'Killing' the 'real' Anna would destroy her feelings and what she represented.

A tear slid down both of the Annas eyes, almost simultaneously.

This world had become painful but even so, Mikoto couldn't allow Anna to do this.

In a loud cry of anger, he began to release his aura, making both Annas stop.

He grasped the thorny branches in front of him and tore them apart, even though they caused his hands to hurt and bleed as if he had done so in real life.

"Wake up!" he shouted.

* * *

Mikoto's eyes flew open. His attention immediately went to the figure who was curled up in a ball under the red blanket on his bed. He got up and hurried to her side.

Anna's eyes fluttered open slightly.

Those gray orbs moved to the side so that they fell upon Mikoto.

"Anna," he began and reached down to touch her.

However, to his shock, she flinched away.

"Don't," she whispered.

Mikoto's immediate response was to become irked due to the shock of her reaction. When did Anna ever refuse his touch (aside from when he pinched her cheek too hard)?

"Please," she added quietly, surprising him with the weakness of her voice.

The anger of her rejection faded from his heart as he sat down beside her. He ignored her weak struggles when he grasped her by the shoulders.

"Let go," she begged.

"No," he denied softly. "don't ever turn away from me."

He carefully pulled her her young body upward and pressed his mouth to her pale forehead.

Anna's first reaction was to stiffen herself in hopes that he would leave her alone, but the moment she felt those warm lips on her, and the brush of his red hair, all those emotions that had been balled up inside of her began to unravel.

When he gathered her in his arms, pressing her against his warm chest so that she could hear the steady beating of his heart, she could no longer hold back her tears. They poured like rain down her face as she clutched his arms tightly, her nails almost digging into his skin for there was so much inside of her.

There was so much she did not understand.

In that dream she had just now, she had wanted to destroy her feelings to become a frozen person just so that no one could ever hurt her again.

The people closest to her were always the one who hurt her the most, whether intentionally or not. Over time, the worry of losing more people she loved had given her a strange sort of anxiety. Her clansmen had done things to assure her that they would never leave her.

Physically, they had not truly abandoned her for she was still their clansman.

But emotionally they had.

They always left her behind and it hurt a lot. Weren't they all like family? Was it because she was the youngest, she had to be left behind?

She had slowly come to draw the conclusion over time that maybe one of the reasons why they left her out was because they did not know how to deal with her no longer being a small child, but a beautiful young woman. Wasn't that a partial reason for her doing the bounty hunting as well? To show that she was grown up, yes, but she could take care of herself.

They could take her out with them.

They would be...equals.

But it backfired and instead they acted like they didn't know what to say to her because she was like someone they did not know.

And she couldn't take it anymore.

She had given as much understanding as she possibly could toward them and she couldn't give anymore. She was fed up if it, she was fed up of them.

She was fed up of Mikoto whose behavior baffled her the most.

She said all these things out loud and lifted a hand in a fist and hit her King's arm with it out of anger. Mikoto did not flinch for his hard muscles took the impact well.

He did not berate her for her feelings, or for lashing out and hitting him.

In a way, he did deserve it.

He had brought her into their lives and had done his best to be there for her and let her know, with actions, that they were her new family.

After Tatara died, he had shared a special bond of affection with her that was devoid of any kind of sexuality, until she started to get older.

There was no way a red blooded man could continue having a relationship like that with a young girl without there being some illegal repercussions, and that was the main reason as to why he had cut out their sleeping habits and had put some distance between the two of them.

But as she didn't stop growing and by the time she was fifteen, Mikoto knew that he had to keep her at arm's length. Sure, he dragged her out to eat sometimes because she sometimes looked too damned thin for her own good. Her breasts probably had more weight than the rest of her body.

Mikoto had to keep her away from him because not only did he have feelings for her that he knew he should not have, she also did as well and that just made it infinitely harder.

After all, if he touched her in a way he should not, and she did not push him away, where did that leave them?

In a messed up situation.

Unfortunately, Anna did not know nor did she understand this. He had never really explained or made it clear to her how her growth would have an impact on him. He just always assumed that she had realized that a grown man and a young woman should not be as physically close as they were.

However, they were emotionally bonded very deeply and the cutting off of that physical, affectionate relationship they had, did do a great deal of damage to her emotional well-being.

As for his clansmen, Mikoto was aware that one of their reasons for being so ignorant had to do with Anna becoming older as well.

But there was probably some other stupid reason on their part for it. They wouldn't act like that unless they misunderstood something along the way.

Mikoto had not actually known what was going on. He had spent so much time cooped up in his room because of the way his power rioted inside of him that he was hardly aware that his clansmen had come to be like this.

He was considering giving each and every single one a good whack on their heads.

Including Izumo.

How could Izumo have failed to realize this?

Wasn't he the brain of the clan?

Anna's sobs slowly ebbed away as she lay curled up against Mikoto now. He was lying on his back with one arm behind his head. The other was around Anna's shoulders, holding her to him as she remained on her side, weeping her tears into his white t-shirt that soaked them up.

"I was going to tell Izumo," Anna murmured. "but you found out before."

Mikoto did not need Anna to tell him that for a large part, she had acted on her feelings last night and that was why she had done something so stupid like go after Takeshi without trying to find out more vital information such as why witnesses were silenced by being poisoned.

She could have gotten herself killed last night and he was still pissed off with her for that.

Despite this, he could understand how emotionally overwrought she had become and how much she had wanted to prove herself to them.

They could avoided all of this, had there been more communication among them.

Communication had declined with Anna's going to school, and perhaps the deterioration of his affectionate relationship with Anna had somehow unconsciously impacted upon his clansmen. Maybe that was also contributing factor on their behavior as well.

It was a wonder that right now Mikoto was able to hold in his desire for her.

It was not like it was non-existent; it was simply held at bay. That was because his concern for her well-being overruled almost any uncontrollable lust he harbored for her. He was going to have to learn to tame it, or explain it to her.

That was going to be damned difficult but he would figure something out. He couldn't continue to allow her to feel this way.

Anna was silent now.

Mikoto slowly removed his arm from behind his head and used the back of his knuckles to stroke her cheek softly.

Anna's white head moved upward so that she could look at him with glowing red eyes. She had the most interesting eyes he had ever come across. When she looked at most people, they were had the color of cloudy skies.

But when those eyes fell upon him, there was this beautiful red hue to them. He could always remember one of the first things she had said to him was, 'Mikoto is pretty'. She had spoken with the honesty of a fascinated child, yet she had sounded so adult-like with her sincerity. She could have such a starkly contrasting personality sometimes, but all these things were what made her his precious princess.

"Do you feel better now?" he questioned.

Anna shook her head at him. She did not feel better.

If anything, she felt very distrusting of everyone right now, including Mikoto.

Her King understood this. He could sense it from her. There used to be this steady feel and trust he always felt when she was close to him. Her eyes were always wide and steady like a child who looked upon their parent for she knew at some point that he would always be there for her.

But now her eyes wavered as they looked upon him.

He had let her down and in so doing, he broke her trust in him.

Trust was something difficult to gain back, but Anna was not an unforgiving person. As long as she was able to understand, she would forgive. She would know how to react and would act accordingly.

Mikoto gently pushed her onto her back and leaned over her.

Her eyes looked up at him blankly. She was very unresponsive and that worried him.

"Don't...don't look like that," he told her angrily.

Vacant eyes looked up at him. Those were the eyes he saw of children who suffered too much, who went through too much pain. Those were eyes Anna had when she had first come to Homra and he had never wanted her to look like that again.

"You're not a doll," he growled. She looked like one, but she was not one. She could think, feel.

Two more tears gathered in her eyes.

Despite this, her expression remained glassy. "I just don't know if I want to feel anymore."

Mikoto stared at her for a moment longer.

Then, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Anna was feeling numb. Just as in her dream, those painful feelings were ruling her heart and because she could not longer handle it, her mind was shutting down against any sort of emotion.

However, those feelings went through the window the moment Mikoto suddenly gripped her cheek-hard.

"Do you feel this, you brat?" he demanded.

Anna whimpered in pain and in surprise as he clutched her pale flesh between his fingers.

She hadn't expected him to do that.

"You're not a damned mannequin so stop acting like one or I'll make you realize that you're human," he threatened.

Anna stared up at him with wide eyes of shock.

"Mikoto?"

In response, he pinched her other cheek as well.

Her soft gasp of pain was like music to his ears. It was a bit twisted of him to act like this but there was no way he would allow Anna to slip back into being that expressionless girl who held all her feelings inside of her.

No, this was worse: she was _destroying_ her feelings instead of holding them inside.

He was not going to allow her to do that.

Even if he had to _bully_ her.

"Does it hurt?" he demanded as she used her hands to push at his chest, in an attempt to get away from him and his ruthless actions.

Anna nodded and he let go of her cheek. She automatically lifted her hand and touched that reddened spot.

Her eyes narrowed up at him and he could swear that she was glaring at him. He didn't mind that at all.

"Good," he said and then shoved aside her arm that was on her tummy, not giving a damn that he was being rough. He quickly undid two of the buttons around her the stomach area of his shirt that she was wearing and he slid his hand inside to touch the naked skin of a particularly sensitive part of her.

That was the side of her stomach that if, he recalled correctly, was very ticklish.

And he was right for she stiffened and made a soft noise of surprise at the feel of his dancing fingers on her skin.

"Stop," she begged but Mikoto did not. He remained hovering over her, propped with one hand that was flat at the side of her head while the other was inside the shirt, busy trying to get her to laugh.

Anna grabbed his hand as she squirmed trying to get him away from her, but as she realized by now, he was too strong.

Anna did not laugh but she did made soft, annoyed sounds. Her face even softened a bit.

She seemed like an angry little bunny. She even made the soft grunts an annoyed rabbit would. She wasn't going laugh as he was trying to make her do, but she was _feeling_ something. She was not numb as she had been trying to convince herself to become like in her dream.

Mikoto stopped his movements abruptly and Anna sent him a full-blown glare.

His own temper was flaring up and he was not the least bit sorry at what he had just done.

"Good. You're angry," he said to her coolly.

Her eyes darkened at his words.

Mikoto moved his hand to pat her head and she quickly knocked his hand aside.

Very much like a very irked rabbit who had been harassed by its owner and wanted to be left alone.

Although it was a serious situation, this amused Mikoto.

When Anna was sad, she was like a sad little kitty. But she was no way like a kitten when angry for she was not the type to hiss and scratch. She retained her quietness and it was in that way she was more like the more docile, long eared creatures than a sharp clawed feline.

He let out a soft chuckle which further infuriated the girl.

He got up from the bed and went searching for a cigarette from his pack that was in the drawer of his nightstand.

He placed it in his mouth and glanced around at Anna. She was still glaring at him openly. It was the first time she had ever looked at anyone like this, but for Mikoto, at least she was feeling something.

However, she looked a bit like a wounded animal as well. There was underlying hurt in her eyes as she gazed at him, reminding him of one of those many abused animals that Fujishima brought in. If she was was angry with him, he could damned well get _more_ angry.

But if she was hurt, if she was wounded in some kind of way, his automatic response was to placate her, to ease her.

And that was exactly what he did as he sat down beside her once more. He let out a quiet sigh which seemed to remove some of the deep vexation he had been feeling.

She did not move, nor did she stop gazing at him with narrowed eyes.

Mikoto reached down his hand and gently soothed his thumb over one of the red marks he had caused her pale cheek.

"I'm sorry," he told her softly around the cigarette in his mouth which he had already lit.

"What are you sorry for?" she demanded, very much annoyed still. Her words clearly suggested that she did not believe that he was sincerely apologetic in any kind of way.

Mikoto sighed and removed the cigarette from his mouth. He blew out a long stream of smoke.

The King responded to her question by lowering his head and kissing the mark he had just removed his thumb from.

Anna breathed in the heady, familiar scent of warm tobacco that came from him.

"For this," he answered. Then he moved to her other cheek and she welcomed the kiss there as well. "For this one too," he added and then he lifted up his head and turned to her torso.

Anna froze when he lowered his head to her stomach.

She shivered when he pressed his head into the soft material of the shirt he had made her wear. She was completely naked underneath this and it felt so strange to have him touch her like that!

But when he nuzzled the side of her flat stomach through the shirt, her heart warmed at his touch. She wanted to thread her hands into the thick mass of red hair on his head and hold his head against her, to feel the hard warmth of his body.

She was quite sure he would let her do what she wanted because she was aware that it upset him to see her so miserable, even if he had just displayed almost merciless aggravation toward her just now.

However, her King lifted his head before she could and he placed his hand on her stomach now where his thumb lightly stroked her there.

"I'm sorry you had to feel this way for a long time, but I'm not sorry that you're angry now."

He removed his hand and stood up, replacing his cigarette. He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "I will not let you become numb. I'll force you to feel if I have to," he warned her.

And he was definitely going to carry out that threat. He had already done so just now. He let out a quiet sigh before blowing out some smoke again.

"You need to eat something," he muttered. He glanced at her. "when was the last time you did?"

Anna blinked.

When _had_ she last eaten?

Now that she thought about it, she didn't think she ate anything since breakfast with Aoi yesterday morning. It was currently lunchtime, based on the old alarm clock Mikoto had under the stand of his television set.

"I'll tell Izumo to get you something," he stated. Her hesitation in answering was enough to tell him that she hadn't eaten for quite a while.

"But-" she began to protest. However, this earned her an angry glower from Mikoto who was not in a mood to tolerate her simply awful eating habits.

"Shut-up," he snapped and walked out the door, leaving her fuming.

He didn't need to be so rude!

Stupid Mikoto.

Pinching her cheeks.

Trying to tickle her.

_Bullying_ her.

But showing her such sweet affection.

Her heart once more warmed.

He already warned her that he would not let her become the emotionless doll she had been on the verge of becoming.

He had already started doing a pretty damned good job of it because although she was upset, he had soothed her the way an owner would his pet. Anna had to admit that his actions had made her feel more settled than she had in days.

She was aware that he had been in her dream, but at first she just wanted to ignore him and deal with her problems on her own. However, she was glad he stopped her making herself into a doll by truly causing destruction to her feelings.

Sometimes, feeling hurt was just so terrible.

The pain was like being eaten alive on the inside and it could be so sickening that one may sometimes just want to throw-up.

However, it was much better to feel at peace and love, and to feel contented. This what she had originally wanted from her clansmen and Mikoto's concern for her was giving her a ray of hope that maybe, just maybe, things would work out.

After all, a certain someone used to always say that, didn't he?

* * *

Mikoto couldn't say that what he had just done to rile up Anna was the right thing for him to do.

But he did not believe that he was wrong in doing so either.

As he padded downstairs into the bar, he heard the noises of his clansmen. They must have stayed the night because of their concern for Anna. Mikoto found this interesting and he was quite sure Anna would like to know this as well: for a bunch of clansmen who ignored their youngest female member, they did express a lot of worry for her right now despite not knowing the true depth of hurt their actions had inflicted on the girl. This meant that guilt was not their motivation for still being here.

It was because they still genuinely cared for her.

Mikoto had also noted something that Anna had not based on her memories: a lot of times, there was an odd nervousness that came upon the members as they ran off from her. Sometimes they seemed to be making excuses. Anna may not have realized for she had been too hurt but Mikoto did notice. That meant that their actions had been deliberate.

What they obviously did not realize was how much it made her feel sad.

Mikoto was pissed off with all of them, but he was going to show them all exactly what they had been doing to Anna and how it had hurt her.

"Mikoto, did you sleep well? Ah...why aren't you dressed yet?" Izumo asked.

The rest of their clansmen had immediately paused in what they were doing to greet their King respectfully.

"Stand up straight, all of you," Mikoto commanded and everyone obeyed, surprised at the sternness of his voice.

Mikoto rarely ever spoke or explained things out to everyone. Normally he left that up to Izumo to elaborate because Izumo always understood and was the best person to communicate to the others.

Mikoto sometimes felt like talking was too much of a troublesome chore.

However, this time, Mikoto had to explain.

But he would not speak.

He would _show_ them.

He began to slowly release his aura. Then, like waves it began to form around the bar, different images of what Mikoto had seen in Anna's dream which were her memories. The images that came up were figures made from flames, therefore it was all in a bright red color. However, the images were also detailed enough for them to recognize the people in those images.

Everyone watched in shock at what they saw.

All the times Anna had wanted to spend time with them and they had left her out. They had denied her.

Yata watched as one particular image him standing at the door of the Bar, laughing happily about something to Anna. She was standing there, listening to him speak and then suddenly he lifted his arm and bade her goodbye, running off to go after Emi.

It broke his heart as he saw Anna lift her hand as if to stop him, but then slowly return it to her side. There was no mistaking the look of disappointment.

The embers of that image died as another fiery figure formed. This one was of Fujishima, dropping into the bar with a new puppy.

Anna was about to pet him but Fujishima drew back, shaking his head, before hurrying off. The young man observed that scene realized how mean that had been of him. He hadn't explained to her that day that the animal needed to get shots and he had a tendency to bite.

Then there was another of Anna holding a cake. She set it aside. When Izumo came in, they saw her mouth move in such a way that they understood that she was saying, 'Rikio'. They realized that she had been asking for him but Izumo was letting her know that he had not come in.

Many, many more drew up of all the times that they had let her down when she wanted to spend time with them until Mikoto let all the images die and fade out.

"Those are just a few instances. I think you all have something to say to her, don't you?"

* * *

Anna had her knees drawn up to her chest with one arm on the top of them. The other held the black remote to the television.

She quietly flipped through the channels.

"What are you all doing?" she asked softly.

To the side of the bed, on the floor, all her clansmen except for Mikoto, Chitose and Izumo were bowing down with their heads on the ground.

Yata and Kamamoto were closest to the bed.

Yata drew up and held something out on a platter for her. Anna glanced at it. Just what in the world were these guys up to?

"We're sorry!" Yata apologized. He peeked to see what Anna would do but she just gave him a blank look.

Yata recalled what Izumo had said to them earlier.

_Everyone was about to rush upstairs until Izumo said out loud, "Stop!"_

_They obeyed and looked at him._

_Izumo himself looked unhappy. "Anna isn't very trusting of you all right now."_

"_But we have to apologize, we have to let her know that we were wrong and..."_

"_That you would never do it again?" Izumo finished off. _

_The men froze. _

"_Well...isn't that what we're going to say?" Kamamoto questioned. _

"_I don't think Anna will believe you," Izumo told him. "you let her down in a big way. All of you." He also looked pointedly at Mikoto who quietly smoked his cigarette. Mikoto shot him an annoyed look. _

"_I'm not denying that, but why didn't you notice sooner?" the King asked as he leaned against the wall. _

"_I noticed something was wrong, but I hadn't realized that it was because of these guys."_

"_You thought it was because of me," Mikoto stated._

_Izumo shrugged._

"_It's not Mikoto-san's fault! It's ours!" Yata cried, finding it hard to believe that the man he hero-worshipped deserved any blame at all. _

"_Quiet, Yata-chan," Izumo cut in._

_They were all to blame right now, for letting Anna feel this way. "She should have said she was upset," Kamamoto murmured. _

_Yata lifted his hand and whacked Kamamoto by the back of his head. _

"_Shut it, fatty! We should have known!"_

"_No, he's right," Izumo put in. Anna really should have let them know, him at least. But then again, Anna did mention it on and off again that her clansmen were never around. She did say something to him, but he had passed it off as nothing._

_Izumo had himself to blame as well. _

"_We were all wrong," he let them know quietly. "and it's going to be difficult to rebuild Anna's trust in us. I think we need to be as honest as possible with her. After all, I know you all didn't act like that without a reason. You just never understood how much it affected her. Perhaps you should let her know **exactly** why you behaved the way you did."_

"You're Mikoto's," Yata said to her as he looked up at his clan's princess.

Anna blinked at him and was surprised at the way everyone else nodded in agreement.

"What are you talking about?" she queried.

Yata placed the platter on the bed. It was warm and obviously contained food. He and Kamamoto had quickly cooked up a plate of omurice while they had sent out the others to get some snacks: Shouhei, Bando and Dewa each had a package of pudding, pocky and chocolate bars.

Eric, on the other hand, had a package of carrot sticks and celery.

As for Fujishima...well, he probably had the best peace offering which was Fluffy, his newly acquired bunny.

Yata remained kneeling before her, but he looked at her with serious eyes.

"You're Mikoto-san's, Anna. You belong to him."

"I am not his possession. I am his clansman, like the rest of you," she pointed out.

However, the others disagreed, as apparent by the way the expressions they wore on.

Yata continued, "Since you were little, Mikoto protected you like you were someone very precious to him. We understood it was because you were so vulnerable and because you needed him, but over time it changed. There was so much affection between the two of you. It was a lot like...love."

Yata recalled seeing Mikoto, for the first time, stoop down in front of Anna and kiss her forehead. That was when she had been twelve years old and shortly before she had been sent to Seneca. It had been surprising to see, but it had been special.

It had not been the love of a man and a woman obviously, but it was something that created a special kind of softness a gang of rough and tough men did not see.

For Yata, a young man who had a difficult family life, that had been so lovely to witness. So refreshing.

They had recently lost Tatara but the growing affection between Anna and Mikoto did lighten their hearts and create a different kind of atmosphere in Homra. In the absence of the man who had been like the 'heart' of this organization, the Red Clan needed this kind of vibe that came from Anna and Mikoto's warmth.

But then Anna grew up.

"But you're not little anymore, Anna and you and Mikoto aren't like that anymore. At least not in front of us. We always thought that maybe he took you for himself."

"What do you mean by him taking me for himself? And what does that have to do with us not being affectionate in front of you anymore?"

Yata glanced at Kamamoto.

The chubby clansman nodded and explained to Anna, "We think he's keeping you for himself. We don't sense that you're his lover right now, but we believe that someday, you will be. If he does not touch you, then we should not either. Out of respect for our King, we must set up a boundary between us and you because the future bride of our powerful Red King must not be in any kind of way tainted by the rest of us guys. Unconsciously, we all found excuses to avoid you and we did it so much it became habit."

Anna stared at them.

They thought she was going to be Mikoto's future lover.

His _bride_.

They thought they would taint her.

_**Taint**_ her.

They ignored her for months because they thought they would _**taint**_ her.

"You're a bunch of idiots," Anna stated blandly, for the first time ever insulting them.

The guys did not show that they were offended in any kind of way by her words. They were used to being told that by Izumo.

"How can you taint me?" she continued.

"You must remain pure of any man's touch, even if it is platonic," Kamamoto replied. He had a tendency to speak rather formally with big, speech-like words.

Anna felt her heart fill with anger.

Her eyes narrowed on her clansman.

"So you all ignored me, left me behind and forgot me because you assumed that I was going to become Mikoto's _wife_?" she bit out.

Anna's expression did not show anger as it had with Mikoto earlier. However, the way she spoke indicated that she was not pleased in any kind of way.

Something about that _frightened_ them.

It was almost like they could hear her voice echo with cold rage.

Yata bowed his head to the floor once more. "We're sorry, we're just afraid of Mikoto-san too! You're his and we respect him but we don't dare touch you too much because of him! You're not a little girl again! What if he gets angry with us for taking up too much of your time away from him?! You're not even home often enough!"

"Mikoto never said that I was his," Anna told them.

Yata lifted his head once more. "You don't see it, but we do."

For the first time, the skateboarder sounded mature. Over the years, there had been too much between Anna and Mikoto for them to believe that she was not going to become Mikoto's bride one day.

They were all aware that when they showed her affection when she was younger, he sometimes became irritated.

Especially if they kissed her by above her ears. He seemed especially sensitive around that spot.

Imagine how it would be when she was older!

That was why on New Year's, when Shouhei kissed her nose, and Bando her temple, they had done so as quickly as possible in order to not aggravate their King in any kind of way.

They respected their King and they stayed away from her because they respected what was his.

And from what they could observe, Anna was Mikoto's.

"If that is what you believe, will you continue to act this way?" Anna demanded.

Yata and the others looked at each other.

Yata answered, "No, we won't. Mikoto-san was angry with us and we suppose that maybe we assumed too much. We really did want to spend time with you, Anna and we want to do so more often. I think it would be alright with Mikoto-san. Will you forgive us?"

Anna let out a sigh. She knew they were not lying.

"Didn't you ever realize I would feel hurt?"

"We thought that if you spent your little time here with Mikoto-san instead of with us, you wouldn't miss us at all."

Anna narrowed her eyes. Quietly, she reminded him, "We're family,"

They understood from that statement that she meant that their bonds meant a lot to her as well, not just Mikoto's.

They seemed ashamed now for not having taken that into consideration. Anna did show a lot of favor toward spending time with Mikoto but there was no way they could deny that she enjoyed being with them as well.

"You also work very hard, Anna. We want you to be safe and rested from Seneca. You eat so badly it worries us," Kamamoto spoke now.

She supposed that she could understand that. She still had little appetite unless it was near her cycle. The extra explanation did help her to understand better why they left her home as they went out bounty hunting.

"Last night, you were amazing. We were shocked, but you were awesome. We're sorry we didn't tell you sooner, but when we thought about it we couldn't help but realize that you're a really good fighter," Shouhei told her.

"And we were glad that you used many of the moves we taught you," Bando put in, not wanting to be left out.

Anna blinked.

"It shows that our hard labor has borne fruit because you beat up those guys with flawless skill!" were Kamamoto's happy words.

The others let out loud noises of agreement.

Anna blinked at her clansmen.

They were idiots.

Lovable idiots.

The door opened and Izumo stood there. He cast his clansmen an amused look. "You guys are really sorry," he remarked. How interesting it was that Anna could make them prostrate themselves this way without even asking them do so.

"We are. We do miss Anna's company," Shouhei agreed.

"But she's older now. Can you spend time with her as young woman rather than as a little girl?"

"Do you _want_ to spend time with us, Anna?" Kamamoto asked her, a bit uncertain. Anna looked at him. They were all watching her expectantly. They did seem to genuinely want to spend time with her, but she was distrustful of them right now.

"I don't want you to spend time with me just because you pity me," Anna said to them.

Her clansmen were surprised by her words.

"But we _want_ to spend time with you! Fatty over here sucks at the zombie game!" Yata complained.

Kamamoto gasped at Yata's words and then looked disappointed. Almost like a sad bear.

He turned to Anna. "If Mikoto-san doesn't mind, would you like to come with me to the some of the restaurants I review? I always wanted to take you but I was afraid he might get upset that I was taking away from his time with you."

Anna wanted to say that Mikoto did not even spend time with her, but Fujishima continued, "I always want to play with the animals with you, but Kusanagi-san always tells me to get rid off them before you see them."

Anna looked at Izumo who was stunned that Fujishima had tattled on him.

"Wha-? Hey!" Izumo gasped but gave Anna a guilty glance. He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "If you play with them, they will end up staying longer. You know I would never refuse you if you ask."

"But what do you want, Anna?" Dewa questioned.

It was the first time in a while anyone asked her that.

Anna looked at him with cool eyes before she turned them toward the television again, absent mindedly changing the channel once more.

"I want to go to the Game Centre."

Yata's eyes glowed happily at her words.

"I want to cook with Rikio."

Kamamoto grinned widely.

"I want to play with Kosuke's pets."

Fujisima became happy while Izumo gave a lopsided smile. Well, if it made her happy...

"I want Eric to come home more often."

Eric nodded.

Definitely. He was getting already getting a new apartment in a building that was closer to Homra.

"I want to help Dewa and Shouhei pick out hats."

The pair looked contented.

"I want Izumo to stop treating me like a little child and let me help out more here. I want to go back to bounty hunting with you all. I also want you and Mikoto to let me come home. For good," Anna said and looked straight at her guardian.

Izumo gave a small smile in response.

"Alright, everyone out. I want to speak to Anna alone," Izumo ordered.

They all nodded and scrambled to their feet.

Yata turned to Anna before he left. Quietly, he said to her once more, "Even if you don't see it, you _are_ Mikoto's,"

Then he hurried away, waving to Izumo before he left.

Izumo walked over to the couch and sat down. He pulled out a cigarette from his jacket.

"Mikoto told me that you were going to tell me everything. I'm glad that you trusted me enough to want to speak to me first."

Anna did not say anything. She simply waited for him to talk more.

"It's hard to watch someone grow as you did. When you first came to Homra, I didn't know how to deal with little kids. But then you were easy to handle. I guess a part of me always wanted to keep you as a little girl. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," she told him softly. "You've never let me down, Izumo."

Izumo smiled quietly. He was glad she could feel that way about him. After all, he did try his best to be a proper guardian toward her.

"Those guys...they're idiots," Anna added as she thought about everything they had said to her about their reasoning for staying away from her.

Izumo chuckled. "Ah? You only just realized?"

She frowned at him but he only snorted.

"They said they I belonged to Mikoto and that they couldn't come near me for that reason. Mikoto would never force them away from me. They just assumed," she said to the bartender.

"They did. They misunderstood certain things I suppose," Izumo agreed as he blew out a puff of smoke. "How do you feel about them now?"

Yes, indeed, what did she feel?

They were genuine in wanting to spend time with her again, but that did not necessarily erase the hurt their stupidity had caused her. They were definitely sorry, but at the moment she didn't thinking it was possible to forget what they had done, or forgive them right away.

"Forgiveness takes time," Izumo said gently. "nothing is wrong if you want to take a bit of time to heal."

Anna remained silent for a moment.

It did touch a part of her that they were so sorry that they had bowed down to the ground and had come with food as if they were offerings to create some sort of peace between them. Those morons had actually forgotten to leave all the snacks with her before they went. Well, she didn't mind too much. They would put them in the kitchen anyway.

Except for Fluffy: he would be tossed out in his ears with Fujishima if the animal-lover dared to try to pass on the rabbit to her.

Yet, another part of her just wanted to take something and hit it on their heads!

She did need time.

To think.

To sort out her heart.

"Mikoto is the one I don't understand the most," Anna added.

"He is a bit of a troublesome fellow," Izumo had to admit. Then, thoughtfully, he remarked, "Mikoto did not tell you this but his power has been going out of control for a while now. He locks himself up and tries to stick out alone. I think that is some explanation for his behavior toward you. Maybe he's trying to protect you from himself."

Izumo knew a lot more than he was letting on. He was finally able to understand that Mikoto's power was raging out of control as he sought to stave off that desire for Anna.

It was not his right to tell Anna all of this, but he did hint it to her that Mikoto was trying to keep her away from himself.

"He never said anything," Anna murmured.

"Mikoto rarely speaks about it," Izumo stated.

He stood up as he finished off his cigarette.

"Is his Sword...badly damaged?" She had been aware that Mikoto's Sword had actually started to heal at some point in time.

What she did not know was whether or that was still the case.

"I can't say. You need to talk to him."

Izumo moved to go. Before he did, he glanced at Anna. "You know, those guys are idiots, but sometimes they _do_ notice the obvious."

Anna blinked.

Just what in the world was that supposed to mean?!

* * *

Mikoto opened the door just as she set down the plate of omurice. She had only taken two bites from it. Thankfully, Mikoto kept extra toothbrushes in his bathroom so she was able to use one to clean her teeth before eating.

Seeing her King made her annoyed once more. She did not forget how he had pinched her cheeks and tried to tickle her earlier, or the way he had threatened her and been so damned rude about it too.

But, she was aware that he had done this for her own good. He was more troubled by her behavior than he let on and he probably did the best thing for her: he forced her to feel.

They were negative feelings, but he had shocked her from numbness to something which was better than her nothing.

And she was somewhat glad.

Although she knew he was glaring at her right now for her awful appetite.

Not really wanting to fight with him, she forced down another bite.

His glare eased as he made his way toward her.

"Can I go back to my own room now?" she requested, ever politely.

"No," he answered.

Anna glanced at him with her spoon stuck in her mouth. She was watching him from the corner of her eye.

He did the same thing as he sat down on his couch, daring her to challenge him.

Well, she was not one to rise to the bait.

No matter what kind of mood she was in.

"Why not?" she asked instead.

"Punishment," he responded.

She blinked. He was still grumbling about that?

"But-"

"I already told you that I understand why you did what you did but you acted stupidly without thinking. This is the second time you did this. I cannot let your actions go unpunished. You'll remain here."

Anna sighed. Okay, so maybe he did have a point.

"For how long?" she wanted to know.

"Until I feel like letting you go," he answered.

Anna was irked now but she did not show it.

However, the way she shoved a large spoon of omurice into her mouth did. Mikoto leaned his head in his hand that was propped by his elbow.

He did not show it, but once more, she was entertaining him with her actions.

"What about my clothes?"

"Check my closet. You'll get some clothes there," he replied.

Anna froze. She looked at him but he wasn't looking at her.

His clothes?

Seriously?

"Toshi is going to be executed soon," Mikoto informed her before she could speak more on this matter.

Anna's eyes widened. "Executed?"

"Yeah. They think he has too much of a brilliant mind and could really cause a political uprising if he really tried. That's the main reason why they're giving him a lethal injection."

Anna remembered being informed about the authorities contemplating this a long time ago.

"It's been about four years since he was captured. Why did they take so long to decide this?"

"There are a lot of ethical issues surrounding execution of criminal. But I suppose it's perfectly fine for politicians if it's in their best interests," Mikoto added in a voice that was almost dripping with sarcasm. He looked at her now with calm, almost warm eyes. "He won't be a threat to you if he's dead."

Yes, that was true.

Anna was quiet for a moment. "Does that mean...that Mikoto will let me come home? For good?"

Mikoto would have preferred that she spoke to Izumo about this as he was the one who normally made decisions with her regarding her education.

However, it was alright if she talked to him about it as well. It was good to hear what she had to say...and for him to actually listen and take her seriously-such as when she told him on more than one occasion that she finished her subjects and could come back home.

"There are a lot of things that remain unresolved with the Rise, Anna. We still don't understand how Toshi came up with those devices, where he got the blood compounds from that blocked the powers of strains, or even where he conducted those experiments. He's going to die without telling us. There isn't even a strain out there who can delve into his mind and find out because he used those blood compounds as well. That's the most problematic thing."

"But if he's going to be executed...then I should be fine, right?" she pointed out.

Mikoto let out a heavy sigh. "Somewhere out there is a lab which probably has all the information regarding you until you were about twelve years old. I don't know if I'm comfortable with the idea that someone could stumble upon that, as well as his research and decide to revive his experiments."

Anna set aside her plate and got up from the bed. "I became a bounty hunter so that I could defend myself in a real battle. I can't hide in Seneca forever. Even if I'm in danger, can't Mikoto...protect me?"

Mikoto snorted quietly.

She had not challenged his ability to protect her, it was a question of whether or not he would.

Mikoto caught her wrist and pulled her down so that she fell across his lap.

He let out another sigh as his arms went around her and his chin rested on top of her head. "Of course I can protect you, idiot. But I can't protect you all the time. I may be powerful, but I am not God."

"Then I will have to learn to deal with it and adjust, won't I?" she pointed out. It was nice and safe and warm here with him. When was the last time she had been cuddled with him like this? Now that she thought about it, she could feel more of his hard legs against hers for her own had grown longer. Her body even fit better against his torso for she was no longer tiny anymore.

Mikoto shifted his head and looked down at her meaningfully.

Getting stronger was necessary for growing up. He could not be paranoid and restrict her by claiming that she was incapable of taking care of herself in a fair fight.

"I suppose so. What about your friends and your job? Are you leaving them behind?"

"I can work for part of the week. Sayuri-san already got a few new employees so they can take over some of my shifts. Akemi also told me before that if I wanted to leave Seneca and return home, then she could always find a cheaper place to rent. It's in the same building as Kei so they would be just fine."

"I see."

"Will Mikoto let me come home now?" she questioned.

"If that's what you want," he replied and gently ushered her off his lap so that she was sitting beside him.

Anna remained quiet for a moment with her hands folded neatly on her lap. Then tentatively, she asked her King, "Would it please Mikoto if...if I came back home?"

Mikoto was surprised at her words. Her head was lowered, hiding up the feelings of insecurity around her. She needed reassurance, that it was alright to do so, that she was _wanted_ here.

That he _wanted_ her home.

Mikoto glanced at her wordlessly for a moment. Then, he reached across and pinched her nose now.

"Of course it would please me, brat," he assured her gruffly and let her go.

He had not held her nose hard as he would her cheeks but there was still a slight redness from his old that made him frown. He sighed and bent to kiss the tip of her tiny nose before drawing back.

Anna looked at him with small smile, but it was enough brighten up her face and her eyes. He was glad about that for it had been a long time since he had seen her this way.

Anna did deserve to be like this more often.

Anna wondered if it was a good idea to ask him about his Sword now. He had only just calmed down after being ticked off with her and they had both gained some sort of neutral ground now that they had talked a few things out.

Anna understood very well that there was a time and place for everything.

The question was, was now a good time to find from Mikoto himself what was going on with his Sword?

There was only one way to find out:

Anna lost her smile. "Mikoto, Izumo said that your Sword is getting damaged again."

She sensed Mikoto withdraw from her, almost like one shutting their heart. She also knew that this bothered him for he immediately searched out for a cigarette.

"Mikoto?"

"It is," he admitted when he finally got his cigarette.

Anna was silent for a moment. "You never said anything."

"It wasn't necessary."

"Ah...it was also necessary for me to keep silent about my feelings," she couldn't help but comment.

Mikoto glared at her then. "Don't play the hypocrisy card with me, Anna," he growled.

"So that's how it is," she muttered and moved to stand. However, Mikoto caught her arm. Frustratedly, he pressed his hand with his cigarette into his hair.

"Sit down," he ordered.

She obeyed and he released his hold on her.

Mikoto took a drag from his cigarette.

"My powers are out of control," he confessed at last.

"Why did this happen?"

He shrugged. "Who knows?"

He had already made the decision to not tell her that the reason was because the mutual affection and trust they had previously was what had stabilized his power. When he put up that barrier between them, and she started to spend more time in Seneca, his power had begun to destabilize once more.

However, what just simply made him start losing control was when he started to realize that Anna was no longer a child, but a young woman who he wanted for himself.

It was like his lust was a separate beast from his power and the two surged together as he fought them down. In other words, instead of having to fight his monstrous power to keep it under control, he now had to fight that equally powerful desire as well.

Staying away from her, ignoring her practically killed him.

But it was the only option he had to safeguard her from himself.

It was not easy to fight to beasts but he did what he had to do.

He would not also tell Anna because then she would probably take it upon herself to stay home and have him use her in any way he wished, if that was what it took to allow him to regain a sense of normalcy.

Mikoto would _not_ allow for this.

He did not believe that lust should be the answer to all problems.

Even his.

Anna was not a sexual object who he would release his desires upon.

He was the Red King, and not many people knew this but the role of the Red King was to protect. Other Kings had their own roles such as the Green Clan who kept peace or the Blue Clan who maintained order and discipline.

However, the Red Clan enforced protection despite looking like a bunch of yakuza.

Having that ingrained in him was what also pushed him into keeping Anna at arm's length. It was not a matter of kingship, but of principles.

What sort of person was he, who protected others yet couldn't protect the most precious person in his clan, from himself?

He would not allow Anna to tie her life to him like this.

At least...not _yet_.

"But your Sword had started to heal. It wasn't so damaged anymore," Anna recalled.

Mikoto took a drag of his cigarette. He did not say anything but Anna knew he was not happy in any kind of way about this.

Anna had already experienced what it was like to watch him practically die before her eyes. She did not want that again.

Without thinking, her small hand covered his as she looked down sadly. "Don't leave."

Mikoto glanced at her.

He never wanted to make her suffer like that again-to watch him have to force another king to kill him by running a sword through him. Gently, he threaded his fingers through hers in assurance.

"If I come home more often...and we all go out...all of us...would that help?"

Her question was hesitant, but she was offering some kind of solution.

"Maybe," he answered honestly.

Maybe it would help if he spent more time with her. The rest of clansmen would be a way to keep any sexual desire between them at bay as with them around, they could not touch each other in any 'immoral' way.

Mikoto knew he needed her in some kind of way to subdue his raging powers. Right now, in the absence of lust, he was at ease by her side.

If he was able to spend time with her, without worrying about his desires, or hers then it would be alright between them.

He was sure of this.

Mikoto lifted a hand and gently patted her head.

It was the first time in a while he had spoken to anyone like this. Sometimes he did find it easier to speak to Anna than even Izumo.

She knew certain things about him that only a woman's soft comprehension could give.

And he was glad for that.

It was another reason as to why he could lower some of his walls around her. There was the remembrance of everything that had happened from since she was little between them. He recalled how Izumo used to say that she was his security blanket. Sometimes he had been described by his friend as a child and Anna, as his teddy bear. They used to cling to each other for warmth and affection and it had healed them for a period of time until Mikoto knew it was time to cut it out.

Now he understood that he needed to allow some of their closeness to return.

So that burden each of them carried could ease.

After all, just as much as Mikoto needed Anna, she needed him.

* * *

_**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you can now understand, Yata and the others had a very interesting reason for keeping away from Anna, although they were being stupid about it. Or maybe they really just saw the obvious that Anna was not seeing?**_

_**Just as a little note, I have not read many other Anna/Mikoto fanfics out there because I don't want to accidentally take anyone's ideas. I wouldn't deliberately do that, but I still don't want to accidentally end up doing so. I like my work to be as original as possible. So, if you have written your own Anna/Mikoto story and you have it posted on this site, I apologize for not reading it quite yet.**_

_**But once I'm through with this story, I am going to kick back, relax and enjoy all the other Anna/Mikoto fanfics out there! I'm looking forward to that because I know there are many treasures in the archive just waiting for me! **_

_**I still did manage to read three very lovely Anna/Mikoto fanfictions: **_

_**The first one is by EmbersofImagination called 'Anna's Masterpiece'. It is short and sweet and I enjoyed it. **_

_**The second one is by Indochine called 'Life goes on, even though you and I suffer'. This was a well-done two shot. This story made me cry. **_

_**The third one is actually the only fic I read before I started my story. It is by momoxtoshiro and is called 'The Kitten In the Lion's Den' which is really a wonderful story. **_

_**All these fics are very well-written, so if you have not tried them yet you can go ahead and do so :) Thank you to these guys also, for writing such lovely stories :)**_

_***The chapters to refer back to from the prequel include Chapters 6 and 25 for mentions of Mikoto's possessiveness over Anna. **_

_****Chapter 29 for when Mikoto's Sword showed signs of healing. **_

_*****Chapter 8 for the first time Yata saw Mikoto kiss Anna's forehead.**_

_******Somewhere in the second half of Chapter 47 for Mikoto's discovery of Anna's ticklish spot.**_

_*******Chapter 24 for the explanation of what became of the Rise and the suggestion that Toshi might get executed by lethal injections. **_

_********Chapter 13 for some explanation on Toshi using blood compounds to block the power of strains. **_

_**I heard that it is the next chapter of K Memory of Red which will be the last. I weep in anticipation and grief. **_

_**Thank you, all of you who follow, review and favorited this story.**_

_**For those who reviewed:**_

_**sinandserotonin: I don't know if you will read this as you have already informed me of your decision to unfollow and unfavorite this story but if you do, in response to your words I just want to say thanks for reading. It sounds as though this was a difficult decision for you to make, but if you feel as though your beliefs are being compromised in some kind of way then it is totally and completely your choice to take action as you see fit. I'm still disappointed that you decided to drop the story but I'm pleased that you were able to enjoy it up to a certain point. Of course, I do disagree that what Mikoto's feelings are toward Anna has anything to do with pedophillia. I researched all the different paraphilias when I studied psychology for my minor when I was doing my undergrad in university and therefore I can tell you in plain words that a pedophile is classified as one having a sexual attraction to a child who has not yet entered puberty, meaning that for Mikoto to express such behavior, he would have had to have an attraction toward Anna when she was still a flat-chested preteen. With that situation that happened with Anna when she was fourteen, I thought that it was realistic for something like that to happen, but what sets Mikoto apart from other men and makes him a respectful person was that instead of acting on his desires, he got up and walked away which is not what a lot of people would do. That was also to show the realistic reason as to why a young girl and a man like Mikoto had to stop their habit of sleeping together. I think that based on what you yourself have said, you do understand this but it is not a relationship you can agree with for your own personal reasons. I understand and accept that because as you yourself said, it is not within your tastes. Thanks again for reading, thanks so much for your kind words. I hope that if I ever do write another story in a fandom you like, that you might read it :) **_

_**Indochine: I'm pleased that you thought that it was just as sexy as the previous chapter. Something is coming up between those two! In about two chapters or so I think (can't promise but something is coming!) *hint*! Anna finally did get around to having conversations with everyone, and now you understand Mizuchi's presence there :)**_

_**Arius the Heretic: I'm glad that you thought that it was sweet! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you can forgive the Homra guys for their stupidity ;)**_

_**DBerryNia: I'm sorry I made you cry a little! I hope I made you smile a little for this chapter though! Hm...I probably should have made her cry in front of all the Homra guys just to show their silly reactions! I'm pleased that you enjoyed the previous chapter and hope you liked this one as well :)**_

_**xNightDreamerx: There will be a discussion on Anna and college sometime in the future (if i remember to put it in because it's supposed to be in the next chapter I think). Mizuchi was really an awful person :/**_

_**laxus23: Now you know what Izumo was going to say :)**_

_**LadyCassie: I'm glad you liked that Mikoto is caring for her well-being. You're Irish? I always wanted to visit Ireland! One of my cousins went there recently and she said that the people of Ireland were some of the nicest people she ever came across. Someday...I'll reach there...someday. Anyway, it's good that you went over and you spoke to the owners and gave them a warning. You were perfectly correct in stating that it could be a child walking a dog next time. I believe you said it was a doberman who attacked Oscar? I love dogs, but there are some dogs who I stay away from because I have been personally attacked by a dog who is mixed with doberman. People may call me biased but after an experience like that, I tend to stay away from certain types. I'm perfectly pleased with my mongrel who is more than ten years old and loves stray females who catch his eye as they strut down the street (seriously...my dog is such a dog *smh*). **_

_**LindyLinn: If Kishimoto could bring Itachi back to life, I would be ever so happy. I think Anna vented a bit more in this chapter. Hope you liked those parts and I'm really, really happy that you liked Kei and Akemi's parts as well! Whether or not it is a long review, I'm always pleased to hear from you and to know your thoughts about the chapters :)**_

_**AngelGirl0200: Your reviews always make me smile. I remember I was feeling a little down last week and then I saw your review and it cheered me up because you always sound so happy and excited! Thank you. Yes, Mizuchi deserves some good punishment for the wicked things he did to Anna. I always appreciate your reviews :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: I'm really, really happy that you thought it was one of the best chapters! That means so much to me! I'm pleased that you liked the part when Anna said Mikoto looked like a rooster! You're in High School? Well, that makes me feel a lot more comfortable now (but still, please don't tell me your age). In college, you don't have to do your homework because it's up to you as an adult to get it done. The problem: don't doing your assignments means that you don't get a grade in it which brings down your GPA, affects the quality of your degree and can make you spend more time in college which can hinder the time it takes for you to get a decent job :/ Not fun i tell you. **_

_**Flower 117: Yes, writer's block. And it was so horrible. I was depressed about it for a while :/ I am better now, thanks :) Thanks so much for letting me know that i'm keeping Mikoto in character, I truly appreciate that. For your review of chapter 13: More of Anna's feelings were shown in this chapter. Hope you were pleased to that! As well as the guys' apologizing! I'm glad that I'm keeping things in line and please, do tell me if I make things sickeningly romantic. I try not to get it like that because for either Anna or Mikoto to act like that would be a bit OOC. At least that's what I think. **_

_**AndieVC: I'm pleased you enjoyed the chapter. I think the only person who was really harsh with her as they worked things out was Mikoto-as seen in this chapter :) In this chapter, you were also able to see how everyone, including Yata reacted to their stupidity! I honestly think that medicines in the US really suck when it comes to colds. It works for some but it doesn't always work for me. In fact, would you believe that there are some South American medicines that I've used before and they've worked wonders? Yes, it can be bloody cold in the US! The last time I caught a cold was after a blizzard in February. I always say that snow is only pretty when it falls. Otherwise, it's nothing but a big mess of sludge :/ For your review of Chapter 13: He was. Tatara was absolutely one of my favorite characters! I love him almost as much as I do Izumo (or maybe even more!). Akemi might cheer her on! She is a bit perverted after all! Now you know, based on this chapter, what Izumo had to say :) I'm really, really pleased that you found those two chapters to be your favorite so far. I really truly appreciate you saying that. Thank you :)**_

_**nanda: I'm pleased that you are enjoying this story so much, as well as the sexual tension, and thank you for letting me know that I'm doing well in keeping everyone in character. I actually did mention in an A/N of a previous chapter (chapter 6 i think) that the story will slowly develop. You see, the plot is really big and there are several plots in this story so I have to take my time with it otherwise I will make a muddle of everything (which I do not want to do). I'm really sorry for the slow developments, but I am considering trying to update more frequently because I want to finish this story before other things in my life take precedence. If I am able to do that, I'm sure that the progress of the story will not seem so slow:) The main reason why I write so many flashbacks mainly because I like writing them, and a lot of readers like reading them too. Thanks for your opinion, I do appreciate it and it really does please me that you are enjoying the story. PS: I will consider adding Neko again at some point in the future. She really is good for comic relief. Hope to hear from you again :)**_

_**Thanks again, and let me know your thoughts on this chapter. **_

_**God bless :)**_


	15. Anna's Bit of Bad Luck

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: There is a mention of something that happened in one of the Radio Dramas. The name of that one is 'Shopping'. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

**Chapter 15: Anna's Bit of Bad Luck**

_He dreamt that he was a lion walking about in a big savannah. He was brooding, mean...he was a hunter, stalking his prey!_

_And then...something brushed his face._

_He couldn't see what it was, but it irritated him._

_Especially when it touched his face again. _

_He growled lowly and gazed around the open field, searching for whatever was this annoying thing that dared to touch him!_

_His golden eyes flicked to the left._

_Then to the right._

_Then left again._

_Nothing._

_He let out an annoyed huff._

_Maybe it was a despicable fly._

_Whatever. He was not going to let menial little fly bother him. _

_But then it touched him on his forehead and he snarled angrily. Just what the hell was this thing?! He saw it then, it was blurry and it was hovering above him. It was long and slightly pink. The movements of whatever this was captivated him._

_He was fascinated by every twist, every turn of this thing._

_And all he wanted to do was reach out and...and grab it. _

_And he did just that._

_Rearing back on his powerful hind legs he pushed upward, reaching to grasp it and he finally caught it between his large paws...!_

* * *

Mikoto's eyes sprang open and he found that he was sitting up on the couch in his room, grasping what looked like a pink cattail. He blinked his yellow eyes.

Huh?

What was this?

Then, he saw the person responsible for it, sitting at his side, leaning slightly over him.

It was Anna who was dressed in one of his white, long sleeved shirts today. Her hair was spilled in white waves around her as she gazed at him steadily with her usual blank expression and wide grey eyes that were tinged with red.

She looked like a dryad next to him.

A beautiful dryad.

"What are you doing?" he demanded as he released the cattail and lay down again.

"I was bored," was her explanation.

Mikoto shot her an irritated look. "Don't use me as entertainment," he growled and shifted to adjust more comfortably on the couch as he pressed arms behind his head.

"Will you let me go back to my room then?"

"No."

In response to his denial, Anna flicked the cattail on his face again.

"Oi, you better stop that," he warned.

"Mikoto likes it; look," she told him and lifted the cattail up and wiggled it a bit so that the pink end of it enthralled him once more.

The movements of it seemed to hypnotize him and all he could think of was capturing it once more.

Just as in the dream, he reached his long arm upward and without thinking, he snatched it from her with a quiet growl and held it to him protectively.

Upon realization of what he had done, he shot the girl a glare.

Anna was a girl of little expression but he damned well knew when she found something funny. Her eyes seemed to dilate a bit with a dancing shimmer when she was entertained in some way.

Irked, he tossed the cattail to the side and caught her around her shoulders and pulled her back against his hard chest in a tight grip. She struggled against him, pulling at his strong arm, but she could not get loose from his powerful grip.

Mikoto snorted.

_Payback_, he was exacting payback on this...this cheeky _creature_ he had made princess of his clan.

He used his free hand to pinch her cheek and she moaned in pain at the feel of his fingers on her flesh.

The door suddenly opened. "Mikoto, stop bullying Anna!" Izumo snapped at him.

Mikoto immediately let her go and glared at Izumo. "Hey-" he began.

However, Izumo cut him off, "We have things to do today! Stop sleeping and let's just go!"

_But she started it, _he wanted to say.

Then he paused.

Now he sounded childish.

As Izumo walked away, Mikoto glowered at Anna. Thanks to her, he had just been scolded like a naughty child.

How annoying.

Anna just gave him an innocent look which he was not fooled by.

However, she was in a more pleasant mood now and their little scuffle just now had also alleviated some of the negativity in his own heart. She supposed that because Mikoto was like a lion, this rough playfulness that they displayed with members of their pride was a way of creating a more relaxed mood.

He gently patted the top of her head. "Did you eat?"

Anna nodded.

Mikoto assumed that she had eaten all of her food, otherwise Izumo would have mentioned something to him.

Anna seemed to have settled down a bit after that emotional outbreak she had yesterday. She was more or less 'their' Anna now: the girl who did not show many emotions and only those who knew her well were able to understand her slight mannerisms and read her moods.

Particularly when they looked at her eyes.

Something about those large orbs gave way to displaying what she was feeling to those who were close to her.

It did not mean she was completely alright. More than likely, her heart just needed to re-adjust and grow accustomed to trusting everyone once more.

"Where did you get that anyway?" he asked as he nodded to the cattail that had been tossed aside before he proceeded to lie back down.

He had not seen it in several years.

"I found this in your closet when I was looking for something to wear," she informed him as she moved to pick it up and set it aside before returning to sit beside him, close to his torso on the couch. She gave off clean, breathy waves indicating that she had just showered.

The cattail was Tatara's. Mikoto did not even know how that got mixed up together with his stuff but if he recalled correctly, Tatara had made this a long time ago to play with a kitten who ended up staying rather long in the bar (much to Izumo's displeasure). After Fujishima finally got a home for the kitten, Tatara had come to drop something for Mikoto in his room and had forgotten the cattail in there. Mikoto might have tossed it thoughtlessly in his closet.

"Is that so?"

Anna made a soft noise of assertion along with a slight nod.

"When will Mikoto let me go back to my own room?" she asked.

Mikoto deliberately turned on his side so that he faced the backrest of the couch. To think there was a time when she would have loved to do nothing but spend time in here with him because they cuddle and nap all day long together.

He supposed that it was not very comfortable to have to stay in his room because she was forced to do so. He was also not here most of the time so without a doubt, being locked in here was truly a boring sort of punishment.

Well, at least she might learn a thing or two now about putting her ass in danger. Mikoto still brooded about that.

"When I feel like it," was the curt answer.

Anna let out a weary sigh.

After they had spoken yesterday, Mikoto had proceeded to make sure that Anna ate every last bite of her omurice.

_"It's just one more bite. Eat it," Mikoto said without looking at her. He was lying on the couch with a familiar stuffed toy on top of his chest. She was sitting on his bed again, forcing down the meal. Normally, omurice was easy to consume as it was one of her favorite dishes, but today, she just did not have much of an appetite. _

_Anna glanced down at the plate on her lap. It might be one bite for him, but it was three times the size of a normal 'bite' for her. _

_Aside from Mikoto somehow blackmailing her with Lion-O to eat, she also tried to finish it off because her clansmen had made this especially for her because they had felt badly about the way they had treated her. _

After she had managed to eat everything, Mikoto had proceeded to leave and go somewhere. He also left the door locked so she could not get out. Izumo had a key to his room so he opened it on occasion to ensure that she was alright and if she needed any food.

The unfortunate thing was that Anna was totally and completely _naked_ under Mikoto's shirts. She had not been given the opportunity yet to go back to her room and Izumo refused to let her out, stating that it was Mikoto's orders to him that she remained there.

The Red Clan was made up of people who were very close to each other, but when it came to rank and obeying orders, they did it with utmost respect.

Only Anna had recently shown a bit of rebellion (aside from Saruhiko Fushimi), but she was different from everyone else as she was the clan's princess and the second in command's adopted daughter.

Still, it didn't get her out of punishment and that was why she remained locked inside of here.

Mikoto had come back home late last night, perhaps during the early hours of the morning so they had not had a chance to speak properly quite yet.

"Where did you go last night?" she couldn't help but ask.

Mikoto's favorite hobby was sleeping. He wouldn't drop that unless he had a good reason to. Hence, wherever he had gone to, must have been somewhere with extreme importance.

Mikoto let out a huff and moved onto his back once more.

In a bored tone, he answered, "The Gold King wanted a meeting with all the Kings about Toshi,"

Anna's eyebrows lifted slightly. "How come?"

The Red King opened his golden eyes and looked at her pretty face before shifting to the top of her head and moving down the length of her hair and to the couch. He had been absentmindedly observing how long her hair was again. The last time she had cut it had reached to her waist. He recalled how upset Izumo had been. It was probably the one time the bartender had ever truly gotten angry at Anna.

Now, it grew out again to her thighs.

Distractedly, Mikoto lifted a strand of her white hair that spilled beside his arm on the couch. He rubbed it between his fingers and enjoyed the feel of its silkiness.

"They're still questioning Toshi. They want to put off the date of his execution again because they want to try other methods of getting him to talk and let us know where he hid all his research and data."

Anna tilted her head to the side, indicating some level of curiosity from her. She recalled him mentioning that Toshi's execution was originally supposed to take place within a couple of days' time. So now that had changed?

"Is it because if anyone found Toshi's research, a lot of strains could be in danger?"

"That's one of the excuses they're giving," Mikoto replied as he twisted the bit of hair between his fingers. "but all of us are aware of the value of the research Toshi had. To be able to find a way to block the power of a strain and create an instrument that can take the strain's power and use it is very brilliant. If that falls into anyone's hands, it can give the opportunity to gain a lot of power."

"Is it the Gold King who wants Toshi's research?"

"No, the old man wants it destroyed. It's the politicians and rich guys who run this country who want it for themselves. They claim that the equipment Toshi developed could give 'normal' humans leverage against those who get powers from clansmen and strains because 'normal' humans are powerless against those who do have power."

Anna's mouth thinned slightly, indicating a frown on her part. "That does not make any sense. Each clan has their own role that benefits normal people as well."

Like the Red Clan who protected Japan by handling dirty matters that normal police would not; or the Blue Clan who enforced discipline and took on matters regarding strains for the benefit of regular people.

"That is true, but it's just another excuse they're making. They really want the power for themselves."

"What is the Gold King going to do then?"

Mikoto sighed and dropped her hair from between his fingers. "He had a secret meeting with us to let us know that while the execution of Toshi is pending, to search out for the location of the lab and if we find it, destroy it."

Anna nodded. The Gold King did everything in the best interest of all the people of his country, whether they be strain or non-strain, clansman or regular man.

These other people who were greedy for Toshi's work really wanted it just to gain more power and just gave arguments to cloak their real intentions.

"Maybe Toshi did have a point," Anna murmured, recalling that Toshi had wanted to carry out a political uprising.

"His ways of doing it were foul," Mikoto reminded her in a cold tone of voice. She knew why Mikoto had grown angry-because Toshi had used to some very underhanded ways of testing out his equipment and went to extreme measures to ensure that as much information was guarded as possible unless letting out more served a purpose to him. When he had first sent men after Anna, they had been willing to kill Izumo and had even hit her.

They had captured Maria and tried to sexually assault her, leading to Chitose nearly tearing them apart for the evil they had tried to do to her.

Mikoto was right: Toshi's methods were downright dirty and he was a cruel man.

Anna nodded in agreement with her King.

"Is getting him to replicate his work just as difficult as getting him to talk about his labs?" Anna murmured aloud.

"The reason why they can't get him to do any work regarding his research is because there are laws in place that had been developed and applied specifically to people who studied strains and who do things to endanger your lives. As long as they have been found guilty of cruelty, it is forbidden to have them do any work of any sort that involves research."

"I see. When did they set the execution date now?"

"They postponed it to six months from now," Mikoto's expression grew a bit more sour, "and they'll probably postpone it again when that time reaches."

Anna understood. As long as they got the right lawyers to argue the case, Toshi's execution date would continuously be pushed back until they found the labs.

Mikoto let out sigh and changed the topic, "What about you? Did you talk to Izumo about college?"

"I did," she admitted slowly.

Mikoto gave her a suspicious look when he heard hesitation in her voice. "Hm? And what did you decide?"

"I want to do online courses and study Business Management."

Mikoto blinked. He lifted his hand and gently flicked the middle of her forehead. It did not hurt but she automatically rubbed that little red spot on her forehead.

"You want to do this in order to help Izumo out more," he stated.

"Yes."

"Is this what you really want?" he asked as he looked at her meaningfully.

"It is," she replied. "Izumo said I could be a lot of things and that I didn't need to limit myself to Homra...but I don't need to be anywhere else. Everything is perfect right here."

Mikoto sat up. As he did so, he came to sit beside her.

"Is that so?" he muttered. He seemed to be thinking deeply for a moment before he spoke again. "What about Seneca?"

Mikoto was recalling how she stated clearly that she wanted to come back home.

"I need to speak to Sayuri-san. More than likely she will still need me at the maid cafe. She was good to me when I needed a job."

Mikoto understood what she was saying: when Anna said she wanted to come back home for good yesterday, she meant that she did not want them to force her to go away again or force her to go to a college that was far away. She would also like to come back to Homra for good, but she could not just abandon her job and her boss when they had been so good to her.

Her preference would always be Homra, and it did not mean that she could not adjust her schedule to suit spending more time in Shizume City. If Mikoto still knew her as well as he believed he still did, he suspected that she might use that motorcycle of hers to drive to Seneca and back to Shizume City on days she had to work. A motorcycle would maneuver through traffic more easily than a car and therefore she could make it to work and back in about half an hour.

To think his precious little cub would same day be a beautiful girl with her own motorcycle. Mikoto let out a quiet sigh before catching sight of his favorite spot above her ear. He caught hold of her and gave her a quick kiss and a nuzzle above her ear, enjoying her soft warmth for a few moments. Anna's eyes shut and she leaned into his strong body, relishing the feel of his warmth and his strength and his beautiful red.

"Where is Mikoto going today?" she queried softly as Mikoto drew back, but kept an arm around her shoulders. Maybe he might let her come along too?

"Takeshi's strain is still on the loose. We're trying to find out some things on him."

Anna frowned. Tentatively, she voiced one more question, "Can't I...help?"

Mikoto snorted when he saw that she was giving him her puppy eyes. He poked a finger at her cheek threateningly, "Don't even start, Anna," Then, he lowered his hand and stood up. With a soft pat on her head, he assured her, "you'll come back to bounty hunting with us but there's an issue that Izumo and I need to handle. When we need you, we'll take you."

His words satisfied Anna's heart.

Mikoto got up and snatched a towel that was hanging on the bathroom door.

Anna's face softened into a tiny smile.

Mikoto did not even realize that was her towel he had picked up. Even if he did know, he probably didn't care.

Then, he walked off, grabbing some clothes before heading to the bathroom.

Anna sighed after he left.

* * *

Mikoto's clothes were very comfortable.

She had worn one of his white t-shirts during the day yesterday, and a long sleeved one to sleep last night.

Today she found this white shirt of his with a pocket on her right breast. With his scent absorbed into the clothing, despite its many washes, she slept well as if he was the one surrounding her.

As for the man himself, he must have returned at some ungodly hour of the morning because when she woke up, he had been snoring on his couch.

She was quite sure it could not be comfortable sleeping there, but he was the one who had insisted on her staying in his room and she did not need for him to tell her that she alone would have the bed.

He was an unscrupulous man at times, but he was still a bit of a gentleman toward her.

An occasionally domineering, but ever grumpy, always sleeping gentleman who made laziness his hobby.

But she did not mind those things about him. She loved Mikoto all the same for he was her precious King.

So, while she was locked up in his room to serve an unknown sentence as punishment for getting herself in danger, she was not irritated too much. Sure she was bored, but least she was in Homra with him Besides, she knew he would probably let her out soon.

Anna switched on the television and took in the images without really seeing them as she reflected on the things she had already done today. She had cleaned out Mikoto's closet and refolded his clothing this morning already. Mikoto slept so much like the dead that he had not even awakened to the sounds of her opening and shutting the large piece of furniture.

He might have been very worn out. After all, he had only gotten some rest after he dragged her back from Seneca.

She was trying to figure out what to do next with her free time when suddenly, her King emerged from the shower.

She blinked at the sight of him.

He was wearing only a pair of black jeans. His chest was completely bare and slightly damp from his shower. Anna knew that if she touched his skin, it would have the refreshing coolness that only a shower could give. His muscles would be smooth, and hard and...

No, no. she couldn't think like that!

She cut her thoughts off and turned her head away from him so that he would not see her blushing so furiously. The only indication of her frustrated feelings was the way she hurriedly flipped through the channels.

"Hey, what's with you?" Mikoto demanded, taking note of her actions. Having lived with Anna for many years, it was very easy for him to realize when something aggravated her.

Meanwhile, Anna needed to come up with the most random, foolish thing to say in order to not have him bother her with more questions about her mood. He seemed to be paying a lot of attention to her emotional well-being since yesterday.

Well, who could blame him?

He had all but fallen into a dream that showed tumultuous state of her heart. He wanted to ensure that she was not on the border of losing her sanity once more.

"Mikoto does not look like a rooster-head," she responded. It was the first thing that had come to her mind and it was the stupidest thing she could say since Mikoto may not have quite forgiven her for whats she had said about his hairstyle the other day.

Her words echoed in Mikoto's mind.

Particularly 'rooster-head'.

Rooster-head.

_Rooster-head._

_**Rooster-head.**_

This was the endless chant he heard.

Anna could almost sense his aura blaze behind her where his closet was.

"You _urchin_. Do you want to die?" he snarled, obviously were many things that could be said about him: that he was a thug, a good for nothing man, a lazy person...but to be described as a rooster head...by Anna...that was plain aggravating.

As for Anna, she pondered on what he had just called her. Urchin now was it? Mikoto's name-calling seemed to not reach the extreme with her, even if she did something to tick him off.

Anna gave him a blank look, indicating that she unimpressed and unintimidated by his threat.

Mikoto muttered some curses under his breath about her being nothing but a 'troublesome whelp', that he should not be her source of amusement just because she was bored and that he liked his hairstyle, thank you very much.

However, he returned to normal rather quickly for becoming annoyed over something so insignificant really was troublesome to him.

Mikoto's hair was still wet and therefore it fell downward rather than sticking upward. It was how his natural hairstyle probably should look like instead of the way it stuck upward. She wondered what product he put in his hair to keep it like that.

"Mikoto, do you use hair gel?" she couldn't but ask.

Mikoto had just opened his large closet when she spoke. He looked at her from over his shoulder. "Of course not," he answered before turning his eyes to the innards of his huge wardrobe.

"How does Mikoto's hair get like that then?"

"Awfully talkative today, aren't you?" he muttered a bit absently as his mind was more focused on the many items before him.

"Am I bothering you?"

Mikoto sighed.

"No. And did you rearrange my closet?"

"I was bored," was her response.

This was probably the third time she mentioned that since he woke up.

Mikoto let out another breath before he turned to her.

He paused when he saw her.

She was wearing on the shirt he had been looking for. He had to admit that there was something attractive about Anna wearing his clothes. The way his shirts fell on her body was different from the way that they clung to him and he felt almost envious as these articles of body wear.

Why?

Because they touched Anna in places he was deprived of.

Anna blinked at his scrutiny.

"That's the shirt I wanted," he told her.

"Ah...I see."

Mikoto froze when Anna began to thoughtlessly unbutton the top. He grabbed the towel around his neck and threw it at her so that it smacked her straight at her face.

"What are you doing?!" he demanded, disturbed by her actions. Maybe this was a dream come true for many to have a beautiful girl like Anna undress in front of them, but not for Mikoto Suoh.

No, that was nightmare for him because then that would be pulling him into a temptation he tried his best to stave off.

Anna pulled the wet towel from her face.

"But Mikoto wanted-"

"Is it normal for to take of your clothes in front of any man?" Mikoto snapped out angrily as he turned back to the wardrobe.

"If it's Mikoto, it's fine," she responded innocently.

The Red King shot her a red eyed glare over his shoulder before searching for something else to wear.

Seriously, she was sixteen years old now! She should know better! When she was still a child, she had a habit of not really bothering too much about who undressed her-as long as it was her clansmen. He remembered a specific time that Izumo had relayed a story of when Tatara, Yata and Kamamoto had taken Anna out to get a new dress and when Tatara had stooped down to have a look at her normal dress, Yata had accused him of being a lolicon and wanting to peek under the girl's clothes.

Unfortunately, Anna did not help the situation by saying that they could do so.

Of course, they had refused with vehemence. Who could blame them?

And to think that one of the reasons that Mikoto had sent her away from the clan was to learn a thing or two about being a girl instead of developing certain shameless habits the rest of the guys had (like undressing in front of each other, which was perfectly fine as they were all males).

Unfortunately, she had not changed and she had also become a bounty hunter like the rest of them. Mikoto supposed that Anna always meant what she said when she had told him that she loved Homra, and she loved being it.

Anna climbed down from the bed with the towel in her arms. She walked over to stand beside Mikoto.

"Long sleeves at the top, short sleeves in the middle and armless at the bottom. Trousers are to the top left and they're arranged based on color and type. Sleeping clothes are underneath."

Mikoto nodded.

"I will give you this shirt if you want. I will change in the bathroom," Anna let him know.

Mikoto looked down at the fair head standing beside him. Her own eyes were looking up at him.

And have Izumo ask why he smelled like a girl?

No thanks.

The bastard was already on the verge of rushing them to the altar now that Anna was sixteen. He didn't want to give the bartender another hopeful excuse to harass him about this.

He ruffled her hair lightly. "It's alright."

He chose a white polo t-shirt and shrugged it on. Anna was momentarily mesmerized by the way his ab muscles rippled with his movements and she quickly turned away.

She was about to walk back to the bed, but Mikoto caught her arm. She paused, wanting to see what he would do, but he simply took the towel from her back began to ruffle his hair with it, drying it out.

Then, he tossed it on a nearby chair.

Anna watched with wide eyes as his power gathered toward his hair and dry it out. However, what was interesting to her was the way the strands slowly began to move upward. He picked up a comb and began to stroke back his hair until it reached its normal hairstyle with the red mass sticking upward, save for two strands that fell forward.

"Hm?" Mikoto grunted when he saw Anna watching him. She had not looked at him this way since she had first met him and had become fascinated at the sight of him because she could see the brilliant red of his powers.

He almost snorted.

He must have impressed her somehow for despite the amount of time they spent together in the past, Anna had never seen how he did his hair.

Mikoto was about to go, but he paused.

Somehow, it didn't feel right that he just walk away from her.

When she was younger and he woke up before her (which was not very often), he would give her a nuzzle before leaving the room, or if she was waking already, a little kiss on the cheek.

He supposed he ought to do the same again.

He wrapped an arm around her waist so that her slim body, clad only in his shirt was pressed against his. Anna smelled fresh and clean, just like him for they had even used the same soap to bathe.

Anna's small hands pressed against his chest. The sleeves of his shirt were loose at her wrists and hung down low. Meanwhile, her beautiful face gazed up at him.

Mikoto was well aware that she was very much naked underneath that shirt. The material was thin enough for him to feel the heat of that body which was different from the way it felt when she wore on the many layers of her favorite lolita styled dresses.

The Red King leaned his head down and kissed the very corner of that pretty little mouth of hers. As he drew back, he told her softly with calm golden eyes, "I'm leaving now."

She nodded and he let her go.

As soon as he did, she felt the cold of the room around her.

She watched him walk to the door and he gave her one last look over his shoulders. His eyes seemed to flicker slightly before he shut the door.

* * *

Mikoto was glad that he had left when he did, and that he had somewhere to go.

It was a pretty darned hard thing to press down lust when the person he desired was already aroused just from her body touching his: he had seen the imprint of the tips of her breasts against the material of the shirt.

The cloth had moulded them almost perfectly and they were beautiful.

He wondered if Anna even realized what had happened to her?

* * *

Anna's body had felt so different when being held against Mikoto while wearing his shirt with nothing underneath. It was like being naked in his arms for she had not a thread of her own clothing on her. The warmth against her skin was more and she had immediately felt that desire coil inside of her.

All she could feel right now, was a sense of relief that Mikoto was gone otherwise she did not know how she would have reacted to him had he stayed longer.

* * *

Anna did not understand why this happened.

There was a kitten in the tree outside.

Yes, out in the cold, up on a tree, was a crying, whimpering, simpering little kitten.

It was white with black spots and it looked a little chubby. It probably wasn't more than a couple weeks old and was perhaps a stray-there was no collar on it.

The tree outside Mikoto's room was very tall. The branches were spread out widely and were quite strong. As the snow had not quite melted yet due to several snowfalls since the blizzard, the branches were a bit laden with it.

The kitten was somewhere to the top of the tree which was not too far from Mikoto's bedroom window.

Anna could climb out and across to it, but she could not say for sure that the branches would be strong enough to hold her long enough for her to climb out and climb back in.

If the branches broke from her weight, then she would have to go through the front door of the bar where she would chance upon her clansmen who would tell Mikoto what she had done.

There was no way he would be pleased with her for going after a kitten while wearing nothing but a shirt on.

Well, it was his own damned fault anyway!

Who told him to lock her in here with nothing but his clothes to wear!

Well, this was sort of her fault as she had forgotten to request being allowed to go back to her room to get her underwear at least.

He wouldn't have denied her that.

Anna decided the best thing to do would probably be to knock on the door until someone came up. Her PDA needed charging as the battery was dead and the charger for it was in her room so she could not call anyone with it.

Anna spent a good five minutes knocking on the door.

No one came.

The only other option for the crying, cold cat?

Anna: she had to get it and save it from its miserable fate of being stuck high up on a tree.

Well, there was no way she was going to climb out onto a tree that faced the street with people and cars passing while wearing nothing but a shirt on.

She opened Mikoto's closet. She had to at least get something to cover her lower half.

A pair of his drawstring pants that he used when training would work well for her. She picked up a black pair and pulled them up to her waist.

They fit like very long bloomers and would have fallen down her legs just as easily as they went up, had it not been for the string that pulled and tightened it around her petite waist. She also folded it up at the ankles because the ends dragged when she walked.

She also searched around and found a pair of Mikoto's socks to put on her feet for there was no way she would risk getting frostbite out there.

Anna knew she was quite a sight in right now, wearing Mikoto's too large and too long clothing. However, she was not dressing with the means of impressing anyone.

She was going to save that kitty!

With grim determination, she opened the window and took in the blast of cold air that slammed into her face.

She silently thanked God that she had put on some chapstick.

Then, she reached for the closest branch. One arm stuck out the window, then another and slowly, she began to creep along the limb of the sturdy tree.

She tried not to look down for she was two storeys up from the ground.

Instead, she focused on the kitten who was still weeping mournfully on the very same branch Anna was on, only it was smart enough to keep close to the trunk of the tree where it was strongest.

Suddenly, Anna felt the branch shift and she heart a frightening creak.

That was when she knew the branch was going to break!

She did not know how she did it, but somehow she squirmed like a worm to get away from the part of the branch that had begun to crack.

She had just made it to the kitten as that part of the limb of the tree broke and hung loosely, dangling from side to side.

Anna gave a little cringe at the sight of it before returning her attention to the kitten.

* * *

Anna was not a girl who normally got angry at animals. She may get annoyed with her human comrades from time to time for their hard headedness, but not sweet innocent animals like playful little kittens.

But this fat, baby cat really had the potential to make Anna lose her temper.

Anna was at the moment contemplating whether or not the creature was the cat version of the devil for it was a wicked little animal.

Why was it so wicked?

Well, as soon as Anna reached for it, it dashed down the tree.

Yes, that furry blob of fat with little ears and whiskers decided to learn how to stop crying and climb down the tree after Anna risked her life to save it.

When it arrived at the bottom, Anna sensed it almost laughing at her.

Yes, that chubby, sharp toothed beast who could pass for a miniature _cow_ seemed to find her current situation humorous!

Oh Anna could think of different ways to get that kitty.

And she _would_.

Once she got down from here and found her red marbles, then she could track it down and have a little mind chat with it.

But now, she could not focus on the thing that was responsible for her current dilemma. She had to figure out how to get down from this tree.

Yet, the strong branches were spread out too far for her to reach.

Here she was, the bounty hunter who took down a bunch of men up to four times her size, unable to climb down a tree.

How totally and utterly shameful.

She was cold, her socks were wet and her elbows hurt from her climbing.

Well, she needed to get back into Mikoto's room somehow. She did not think he would be pleased to find that she had somehow found a way out of his room only to get herself in more trouble.

This also meant that she had a limit on her time as well! Mikoto could come back any time soon.

And then she saw them walking down the street, ever so casually:

Mikoto and Izumo, smoking as they neared the bar.

What totally and utterly bad luck she was having today.

* * *

Mikoto exhaled a puff of smoke as he and Mikoto walked down the street, toward the bar.

"Ah, don't look now Mikoto, but there seems to be trouble again," Izumo commented.

"Hm?" Mikoto glanced at his friend, then in the direction the bartender was looking at.

He let out a weary sigh.

Why was he not surprised?

There, high up on the tree sat his princess. She was was wearing on the shirt he had left her in, along with what looked like a pair of his pants.

At least she had been wise enough to pull on some socks too.

A part of the branch of the tree she was sitting on had broken off. It was the part that led from his window.

Mikoto walked to the tree, looking up at Anna.

She watched down at him without any expression on.

Mikoto took a drag from his cigarette, then he calmly released the smoke into the air. It slowly rose like white tendrils up to the air and dissipated before reaching Anna.

"Get down here," he ordered.

He saw her shiver slightly.

Oh, she was freezing alright.

Anna blinked. "I can't," she informed him rather primly.

Mikoto took another pull from the cancerous stick. Once more he blew out the smoke before asking, "Why not?"

She did not say anything.

Mikoto made an irritated grunt. He realized that it was because she did not know how to get down. If she couldn't get down, he would have to go _up_ and get her.

"Shall I meet you in a bit, Mikoto?" Izumo questioned while Mikoto dropped the butt of the cigarette to the ground and stepped into it with his black shoe. Then, he folded his arms looked up at the princess of the Red Clan, who had been capable of beating up a group of thugs who were much bigger than her, and yet was not able to climb down from a tree.

"Yeah."

The bartender walked off. Anna's eyes followed after him before wavering at the sound of Mikoto's movements as he easily grasping a low branch with one arm and pulling himself upright in one powerful swing.

She continued to watch on quietly as he jumped from one strong branch to the next, very much in a similar manner as he had a long time ago when he jumped up on the ferris wheel with Anna and Tatara in tow.

Finally, Mikoto arrived on the branch she seemed to be casually sitting on.

Anyone would think she was fine, but Mikoto knew better.

Anna was cold and she was afraid. She was trembling ever so slightly and her eyes were slightly widened.

Now that Mikoto thought about it, this was not the first time Anna had to be rescued from a tree.

He remembered an instance when Tatara had put her on a tree in a park they had visited and she had ended up climbing too high and could not get down. Mikoto ended up going up after her.

He recalled asking her as he reached her, _"Are you afraid?"_

Immediately, the small child grasped onto him tightly and shook her head.

"Want to tell me what you're doing here?" he questioned very softly.

Anna's lower lip trembled slightly and there may have been a flash of anger in her eyes. "A kitten was stuck here. I came out to help it and it decided to climb down then."

She tried to help a cat who didn't need help?

What an odd story.

But he did not doubt her. Anna was not really one to lie about these things and she sounded very honest in her words.

It was rather ironic though: she went up to save a kitten and ended up becoming stuck herself.

And she really did look like a kitty stuck up on a tree today. Mikoto felt mirth rise up in his heart at his own thoughts. Lately he had really developed a bad habit of comparing Anna to small animals. Yesterday she was 'angry bunny', today she was 'stuck on a tree kitty'.

What an amusing girl.

Either way, the more important thing was to his troublesome kitten inside.

He caught her by the back of his shirt she was wearing, and pulled her upward so that she fell onto his lap.

"Ah!" she gasped at his sudden movement.

One of his arms held her securely by the waist while the other held them study by holding onto the branch above them.

"Put your arms around me," he ordered.

Anna nodded and obeyed him.

After feeling satisfied that she was holding on tightly, he moved with one swift, easy, graceful movement, leapt from the edge of the branch and into the bedroom. Still holding her easily by waist, he dropped her onto his bed.

"Stay there," he commanded and moved to sit on a chair and pull off his boots.

She proceeded to remove her wet socks. They were soaked from the snow on the tree.

She glanced around when Mikoto returned. He settled himself into his chair beside the bed with a sigh.

"Mikoto?" she said his name.

Was he angry again?

He did not seem to be that way as he placed head in his palm and leaned on his elbow, observing her.

Anna was kneeling on his bed with the black pants and his shirt on. She was quite sure that she may have damaged the white shirt in some kind of way and that it was probably beyond repair now.

"I'm sorry," she apologized softly, feeling a bit ashamed because the situation itself had been embarrassing for her.

"Take it off," Mikoto ordered.

Anna paused.

Wait, why did this sound familiar?

Didn't she have a dream like this the day before? With Mikoto sitting on a chair and commanding her to remove a shirt?

A white long sleeved shirt as well?

"Mikoto?" she said his name, not comprehending.

"Take it off or I will," Mikoto snapped impatiently at her.

Anna realized that this was not the sensual atmosphere that she had been in when she had that dream the other day.

No, the vibe this time was totally different.

"I want to see your back," Mikoto added on a quieter tone.

Anna's mouth formed into a straight line, indicating that she did not understand.

However, she complied and turned the other way so that her back faced him.

Slowly, she began to unbutton the shirt and as she did so, it began to slide down her back. Once it reached midway, she took her thick mass of hair and pulled it over one shoulder, revealed that naked white back of hers.

However, as far as Mikoto could see, it was marred with bruises.

Most were healing but there were black and blue marks with a few red ones here and there. He knew she got them from bounty hunting. Based on what he knew of her fighting skills, Anna was not very good at protecting her back. She had many things going against her as a fighter, but she was still very skillful and intelligent.

However, she had to work on defending behind herself.

When she sparred with him and her clansmen previously, he always noticed how slow she was to react to attacks that came from the back.

That was understandable because one's limbs moved forward, not back and therefore a high level of swiftness and skillful moves were required in order to defend oneself like this.

Mikoto got up and walked over to her, just as the shirt slid from her arms and to the bed, revealing her marred skin completely.

Mikoto lifted a finger and lightly traced a bruise that ran up her spine, causing her to shiver in reaction.

"You're lucky you never got paralyzed," he murmured, knowing the danger of damages to the spinal cord.

Anna did not sat anything. She had one arm lifted, covering her chest, despite her knowing that he could only see her back. It just felt strange to be sitting half naked with him so close, with her large breasts poking out at the front and jiggling with every little movement she made.

"How did you get it?" he continued as he came to the end of mark which stopped midback.

"A kidnapper had a wooden sword."

Anna was careful not to say too much because she did not want to risk his wrath again.

"He broke it on you," Mikoto filled in. He had been in enough fights himself to recognize certain wounds for what they were.

Anna nodded, feeling a bit ashamed.

Mikoto did not sound angry, but his hand that was gripping her shoulder had tightened on her, almost painfully.

She let out a soft gasp when he pressed a kiss on the bruise, slowly trailing his lips upward, covering the entire mark.

"Mikoto?"

His hand touched another bruise. This one was purplish in color and seemed to be more recent. It was located just under her right shoulder blade.

"And this one?"

His voice was eerily quiet when he talked.

"I missed getting the full brunt of a kick in a fight not too long ago," she replied.

He made a soft noise and once more, he touched his lips there as well.

Then, he found a scar, just above her left backbone.

"This looks like it came from a knife," he remarked.

"It did. The person aimed at me, but I got away without..."

"Without having a knife thrust into your back," he finished off through gritted teeth.

Anna lowered her eyes.

"Yes," she whispered.

As expected from before, his mouth was on that wound as well. However, he opened his mouth and she felt his hot breath on her naked back.

His large hands slid down her sides, carefully avoiding her fully breasts, so that they could grip her tiny waist.

Anna inhaled sharply when she felt the hot, wet touch of Mikoto's tongue to her scar.

Softly, it flicked along the healing line.

Whatever intention he had had behind his actions, did not stop Anna from feeling the way her lower body tightened in response to warm mouth on her naked skin.

"They're ugly," she told him softly, for the first time feeling self-conscious about these mars to her body.

"Battle scars are never ugly," Mikoto murmured after pressing one last kiss to that healing cut with his warm mouth. She felt his breath on her as he continued, "but you shouldn't be wearing them."

Anna did not give any response to those words.

One of Mikoto's arms went around her waist, across the front of her stomach while the other followed the path of her arm that covered her breasts, resting over hers as he banded her against him.

He seemed to be looking straight ahead as he told her, "Yesterday you said you were planning on leaving Homra and then coming back again,"

"Yes," she confirmed. That had been an option for her.

Abruptly, Mikoto turned her around and pressed her into the bed with his hands on her shoulders. Anna stared up at him with slightly lifted eyebrows. Although his features did not display true anger, Anna could see it by the way his eyes glowed red.

Her arm remained covering her nudity, yet she felt so vulnerable right now and she was lying down-forced by him, whereas he was sitting up. He had _control_ over her actions.

"Do you think I would have let you go?" he demanded with deadly softness.

Anna's solid gaze wavered.

"You wouldn't have?" she asked softly.

Mikoto lowered his head enough to have one strand of his hair that fell forward touch her cheek. Those glowing eyes remained fixed on her as he answered, "No. I brought you into this clan and everyone here considers you their princess. I will not let you go. Here is where you belong,"

His words were spoken roughly with harshness, but they were words she needed to hear from him. Despite her chat with him yesterday, Anna's heart had not been completely settled. Her hurt was still there over everything that had happened, but she had been able to assimilate the apologies of her clansmen and the explanations from Izumo and Mikoto. Now, these few words of Mikoto were what seemed to adjust her feelings for now, he confirmed for her that no matter what, she belonged with them.

In Homra.

With _him_.

Anna blinked. Wait, yesterday the guys had also said something like too, but they had told her she belonged to Mikoto. Anna could almost swear that when Mikoto just said he would not let her go because here was where she belonged, that he was also saying that she _belonged_ to him.

But he meant that was because she was his clansman.

Right?

Mikoto slowly became aware that Anna was completely topless underneath him. Her white stomach was completely bare, as were her arms which covered those full breasts of hers.

He lifted his hand and gently soothed it up her stomach, relishing the feel of the soft white skin.

"No marks," he murmured.

Anna watched him quietly. Instinctively, she knew to remain this way and simply wait.

Wait to see what he was going to do.

Those golden hues of his was gradually starting to darken into a feeling that she had never seen his eyes save for the night before when they had been in her small room in Seneca.

When the room had become so hot that she had begun to sweat despite the cold of the Winter in the mountains.

Anna realized that this room was slowly becoming like this.

And right now, she was even more vulnerable to Mikoto because of her lack of clothing to cover her beautiful form.

She waited to see what he would do for his eyes were slowly working along her long, slender arm that just barely covered her chest.

He could make out the top and bottom of those round, soft looking globes of flesh.

Was it really that long ago that she had been a small girl?

This was no child lying under him.

This was a young woman with a ripe body, just begging to picked and consumed.

And he wanted to be the one to consume her.

Mikoto's eyes came to her mouth.

That mouth was soft and sweet. He wanted to steal a deep, wet kiss from it.

Mikoto's control began to slip.

Why not? Why not just give in for today?

Slowly he began to lower his head.

Anna, who was accustomed to kisses on the cheeks, forehead and temple from him, somehow knew that Mikoto was not aiming for these more platonic places.

He was going for elsewhere.

She closed her eyes and lifted her head slightly, waiting for that hot mouth of his to touch hers.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door and Mikoto immediately released her. He seemed to almost sneer at the closed entrance, but he got up anyway.

As for Anna, she quickly turned away and grasped the ends of the shirt together and began to button it up quickly.

Just what was that?

Mikoto had really been about to kiss her?!

Anna was unsure but she was slowly starting to realize that maybe Mikoto did desire her, but he kept away from her.

She was starting to become aware that there had been occasions when she had sensed something strange about Mikoto. She had gotten a different kind of feeling from him, but as quickly as she sensed it, it would disappear. On New Year's when he had kissed her, she had sensed it once more. When she thought more on it, in her room in Seneca, she had felt this as well from him, and just now she had again. It was like something thick, and sensual. That was the best way she could describe it.

This strange vibe she got from him made her shiver and want to be pulled in by it. Anna had never had enough time to truly pay attention to it until now.

And only now was she starting to recognize that perhaps, this was lust.

Maybe, just maybe, Mikoto did want her as much as she did him.

"What is it?" Mikoto asked when he cracked open the door slightly. It was his vanguard who was holding out something in a white parcel.

He accepted a bag from Yata and then shut the door.

"Here," Mikoto said and dropped it on the bed, next to her legs.

Anna picked it up and observed the contents of it.

And gasped softly at what she saw: it was a dress very much like her old one with red and black ruffled layers.

Only, it was bigger and could probably fit her perfectly.

There was even a little black hat to put on her head!

"Mikoto?" she said his name questioningly.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned away.

"Your hands...they're bigger now."

Anna blinked at his words.

It did not take long for her to understand what she was saying. When she was younger and he had made the decision to send her away to Seneca because of the Rise, he had commented that her hands were tiny, meaning that she was unable to protect herself. Ever since then, there had been occasions when she would always ask him if he believed that her hands had grown. Normally, the answer he would give was 'no'.

However, with him now telling her that they had meant that he understood that she was capable of protecting herself. Although she had done some stupid things like acting based on her emotions, she had also proven to him and their clansmen that she was strong and she could protect herself. That was the reason why she had gotten into bounty hunting anyway: to become stronger so that they would have no excuses to keep her away from home anymore.

"I assume that you're our eyes again, unless you would rather be a fighter?"

Anna comprehended what he meant meant by this as well. When he had forced her into the bath the other night, he had questioned if she truly liked being on the offensive and her response had basically been 'no'. He was giving her a dress like her old one that would be difficult to fight in, but it was now up to her to take on her previous role in their clan, or she could choose to take part in the fighting itself. Mikoto was not going to restrict on her decisions as she had proven to him that she could handle herself in a serious fight.

However, as she had mentioned to him the night before, fighting had not been something of enjoyment for her as it only served the purpose of making her a better opponent and giving her a source of income. She knew that her clansmen were already good enough fighters so when she went out bounty hunting with them, she would not need to take an offensive stance that she not really care for.

In the end, Anna did what she had set out to do and accomplished what she had wanted which was to become stronger. This was the decision she had made since she was about eleven years old, when Mikoto had first started teaching her how to fight. She would become stronger and over the years she had done the necessary things to do so, and in so doing them, she was able to show that she was strong enough to be allowed back home as she could defend herself. After all, in the case an emergency and no one was around to help she would be able to take control of the situation on her own. With that in mind, there was no reason for them to send her away and therefore she could return home and return to her previous duties as the tracker of the Red Clan.

"I want to be your eyes, Mikoto," she answered. She was perfectly alright with that.

He looked at her from over his shoulder and nodded. "Good. Get changed. We're leaving in a half hour."

Anna got up with the dress. Her pretty mouth twisted slightly when she remembered something: she needed her underwear.

"I need to get..."

"Door's unlocked," Mikoto informed her as he lit a cigarette.

Ah, she was free to go now.

Anna walked toward the door and paused beside Mikoto.

He looked down at her. In response, she tiptoed and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she told him shyly.

Mikoto's heart warmed to the bit of affection she gave to him. He responded by simply ruffled her hair kindly. "'S alright," he muttered in a gruff manner.

The young woman nodded and hurried out the door. She paused suddenly. "Mikoto...Mikoto's hair isn't like a rooster's. Mikoto is very handsome," she assured him rather bashfully and hurried off.

Mikoto blinked in surprise at her words.

He hurried to the door when he heard her gasp and saw that she seemed to have nearly tripped. However, she gathered her wits quickly and dashed to her room.

The King snorted. In a way, Anna had just behaved the way she did when she was still a child.

Unfortunately for him, she was not one. He was thankful that Yata had knocked on the door when he did, breaking the spell that had been cast between himself and Anna. Having her home was definitely going to be a bit difficult for him, but he would accept the challenge.

Besides, it was better now, wasn't it? It was like everything was going back to the way it used to be. He knew it would be completely the same, but he still looked forward to having Anna with them again.

He would never admit it, but he missed her.

* * *

_**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. This chapter explains a bit more detail behind why Anna went off bounty hunting as it mentions back to that time in the prequel when Toshi wanted to come after her and she was forced to go away, not just because her clansmen may not have been strong enough, but also because she could not even defend herself. **_

_**Now they're going after Takeshi's strain!**_

_**And Anna is coming to realize that Mikoto wants her too!**_

_**And there's a lot of issues going on with Toshi.**_

_**The chapters to refer back to from the prequel are:**_

_***Chapter 9 for when Anna was first being taught how to fight by Mikoto, as well as her decisions to become stronger. **_

_****Chapters 12, 25 and 26 for mentions of Anna's hand growing. This relates back to Anna's character song where she says that 'this hand is not that small'. 26 also makes mention of another time Izumo yelled at Mikoto for bullying Anna.**_

_*****Chapters 11, 12, 13 and 14 for the stuff the Rise did and how they attacked Izumo and Anna. Chapter 14 explains what they did to Maria. **_

_**Anyway, thank you all of you who follow, favorite and reviewed this story.**_

_**For everyone who reviewed:**_

_**DBerryNia: I'm pleased that it was your favorite chapter so far! I'm really happy about that! **_

_**AngelGirl0200: I'm glad that you enjoy this story so much :) Maybe Anna and Mikoto will do 'it' eventually. Maybe ;)**_

_**magicalnana: I'm pleased you enjoyed the latest chapter so much. Mikoto really is like a gangster boss :)**_

_**Indochine: I'm so happy to know that you thought the last chapter was perfect. I'm glad you understood the meanings behind the dream :) I have some plans for Mikoto, but right now, as you have realized, it is to show that Anna and Mikoto truly need each other. Your welcome about my mentioning you. You're a great writer and your story made me very emotional. Not many writers are capable of doing that, and you have that ability. Thank you for producing something so beautifully written :) No, I haven't had a chance to look at the rest of Psycho-Pass episodes. Maybe when I'm done with this story, I probably will :)**_

_**LadyCassie: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope I'm able to visit someday :) Despite his ways, my dog is still really lovable. Yesterday he rolled onto his back and refused to move until I rubbed his belly. I think he gets more spoiled as he gets older. I think dobermans are normally used as guard dogs...I suppose it's a matter how who raised them and how they raised them :/**_

_**manga-life: Yes, they were finally able to deal with things. Everything finally came out in the open :)**_

_**Guest: Thank you for your review and I must say that you are one of the very few people who have claimed that Anna is OOC in this story. I must thank you also for not just saying this, but also actually saying how you thought she was OOC. I appreciate that. The only concern I have is why did it take you until chapter 14 to comprehend some of what I had been writing about since the very first chapter? Did you skim through the chapters instead of reading the details in them? The reason I ask this is because while you claim Anna to be OOC in this story you totally misunderstood many things and there were also several things that you missed. In this story, Anna is actually not selfish or whiny as you put it. To a large extent, I think you are misunderstanding the context of the situations here and you either skipped or skimmed certain parts of the chapters, or misinterpreted certain things. Please keep in mind that the main plot of this story has to so with growing up, and growing up also involves learning to deal with changing circumstances and many of the things Anna did in this story was her response to changes in her life. This also links back to the prequel. I will not give you details because it would be unnecessary and a waste of time as everything I tell you would just be a repetition of what I have already taken great pains to be very descriptive about in the story itself. Many of the answers to the questions you were going on about are in the actual content of the story, so here is my suggestion to you:**__** go back to chapter one and start reading from there, but as you do so, understand the context of the situation (this is of extreme importance) and put yourself in Anna's shoes; how would you feel, based on a background of losing people you love, had the new family who took you in suddenly neglect you and you did not understand why? Also, pay special attention to Anna's thoughts as it will reveal to you that Anna is actually being far from bratty as you seem to think. She was probably acting very angsty, but within good reason. I think after you read this chapter (15), more things might become more clear to you concerning the reasoning behind Anna's actions. If you still don't understand, then I apologize for not being able to convey the story to you with more clarity-you must understand that I am not a professional writer and I just do this as a hobby. **_

_**nanda: Thanks for your kind words. I'm happy to know that you really enjoyed this chapter so much, and you found Anna to be in character based on the situations. I will probably bring in Neko. If I don't it's because I probably forget because I'm so absentminded sometimes! I always take note of what my reviewers have to say. It's important to me you all let me know what you think of the story and what you understand, and what you like, don't like and whether or not the characters are being ooc etc. I need to know this as it kind of helps to guide my writing. Thanks so much for reviewing. I appreciate you taking the time to do so :)**_

_**Hannah Scholte: I'm pleased you liked chapter 13 for that scene. I remember you had asked for a 'shower' scene. This was the idea I had mentioned I had in mind. Maybe one day they will have 'real' shower scene ;P I mentioned the Green Clan just to serve as a means of explaining a particular point. They won't be making any appearances because I don't know anything much about them. I do believe they are really required to maintain peace because it was either mentioned in the novel, or in the anime (I can't really remember). I'm not quite sure. Now you know what Anna plans to do about college. She wants to stay in Homra because for her, no where else could be better :) Oh, this story is going somewhere alright, especially in the next chapter or two. You're gonna like it ;)**_

_**Arius the Heretic: Yeah, they are all idiots! There will be some progress in the relationship of those two :)**_

_**laxus23: Yes, they finally understand and I am pleased that you were smiling for that part :)**_

_**creativeactive: Yes, now most of the misunderstandings are cleared! I'm pleased that you are enjoying the progress of the story. Maybe they will marry ;)**_

_**LindyLinn: Thank you for those words. They mean a lot to me! I actually wrote a couple of fanfics a few years ago but I was not able to post them firstly, because I was too shy, and secondly because I had some internet problems. I recently found those old fics. I have some Skip Beat, Naruto and I think I started a Bleach. The problem is that the word processor I used was so outdated that it's kind of hard to convert the documents :/ If I decide to continue writing fics after this, I will try to do an Itachi/Sakura one :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: I'm glad you liked the chapter! Really, it played like an episode in your head? I'm so glad it had such a great impact on you! College is fun up to a point: you have more freedom but freedom does come with a price as you need to know how to control yourself. There are also other kids who will do things to bring you down just to score higher than you, but I think it can be like that in High School as well if it's really competitive. Still, High School really is awesome and you do as you are saying you will in terms of enjoying it :) Thanks again for your lovely words :)**_

**Thanks for reading.**

**God bless :)**


	16. Takeshi's Strain

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 16: Takeshi's Strain**_

"We should go for karaoke after this!" Yata suggested excitedly as they walked through the streets. The afternoon was quickly drawing to a close as the group of dangerous looking men, and the single beautiful female moved through the city.

Mikoto, of course, was in the middle. He had a cigarette in his mouth and his hands were shoved in his pockets. To his right was Anna who had her hand placed through his elbow. Izumo, also with a cancerous stick of tobacco, was to Mikoto's left while Yata walked in front with a bat over his shoulder. Kamamoto strutted beside Izumo with his huge stomach bouncing lightly with every step.

Shouhei, Dewa and Bando were behind them while Eric and Fujishima were the final two to the back. Chitose could not make it as he had already informed his clansmen that Maria needed him to help with their son.

The clansmen did not mind for they knew that as a new father, he wanted to support and help out his wife as much as possible especially since neither had the support of relatives for their child.

"If we have the time," Izumo told Yata.

Yata paused so that he could hurry to Anna's side. Happily, he said to her, "It's been a while since we had you with us. I hope we can go,"

Anna nodded in agreement. Before leaving the bar, she had set her marbles atop one of the tables there and had used them to locate the strain who she had found out was hiding out in a warehouse that was not too far away from Homra.

To the back, Eric muttered, "He's like a happy little chihuahua," and Fujishima made a soft noise, indicating that he felt that that was true as well.

"I heard that!" Yata snapped angrily.

He proceeded to join the pair at the back so that he could argue with them while Izumo yelled for him to not cause a scene.

For Anna, the sense of nostalgia was almost overwhelming.

The familiarity of the arguments, the smirks on her clansmen faces as they went for the enemy, the scent of Mikoto's cigarette and the warm atmosphere created by her clansmen drew her in and sent her back to that time when they were all together, going out to handle cases.

The only person missing from this was Tatara and that did still sadden Anna. However, she knew that she had to truly start accepting his death. It was hard on her even to this day, but as Mikoto had told her recently, Tatara would have preferred that they learn to live without him. Tatara would have simply wanted that they cherished their memories together, and that he not be remembered with sadness.

Anna picked up a marble from her pocket and held it between her fingers. It was a familiar habit, but this was the first time in a while she was able to do this so freely without worrying about anyone seeing her. After all, when she had been in the Finder's Club, it was not so simple for her to just pull out a marble in any place. Also, Akemi and Kei used to somehow feel that they should not witness her using her power. After all, they had been practically threatened into silence about what they knew of Anna.

Anna's eyes became as glassy as her marbles as she found herself become connected with the place around her, giving her vision into a world that was full of beautiful, brilliant colors.

That was when she saw it.

It was a string of images that came in one flash, allowing her a glimpse into the future.

_They were in an empty warehouse and there was fighting going on everywhere._

_Yata was near a pile of crates. He moved to get out of the way, but he could not as hundreds of poisoned needles flew at him, hitting him directly to the front._

Mikoto sensed a shift in her mood and looked down at her.

She returned his look and carefully slid her hand that was in his elbow, down to his own hand that was in his pocket. She removed it from there and held it carefully and using her power, she was able to telepathically show him what the vision she just had was.

There were two reasons as to why they had this telepathic link: the first one was because she was his clansman. The power he gave her when she became his clansman was unique in its own from everyone else as it allowed her to be his eyes in a special kind of way. Not just to see glimpses into the future, or to track an enemy, but to see what she saw as well.

The second reason came from around the time when they had first met each other and Mikoto had looked at her through one of her glass marbles. Through her own power as a strain, they were 'connected' and this was one of the reasons as to why they were able to share dreams as well.

Mikoto nodded to Anna, understanding after he saw the images.

"Yata," he said without turning around.

Very much like a happy puppy whose owner had just called for him, Yata broke off arguing with Eric to hurry to the front.

"What is it, Mikoto-san?" he questioned brightly.

"When we get to the warehouse, take Anna to the shopping district," Mikoto responded.

Yata was surprised. He was the vanguard of Homra, and one of the most powerful members. He therefore could not fathom why it was that Mikoto was sending him elsewhere when clearly he would be more needed in the location where the strain was.

"Mikoto-san?" he said his King's name questioningly.

Even Izumo seemed to find it strange that Mikoto was sending Yata off with Anna.

"Rent the karaoke room," Mikoto explained.

Yata's expression grew happy. While he would have preferred to come along with the others, he believed that his king might have told him to do this because the job would not take a lot off effort. Since Yata wanted karaoke, he should be allowed to find the place and they would all go have fun afterward.

Mikoto had deliberately not told Yata what would happen.

The main reason being that Yata would want to prove to Mikoto that he was not going to allow something like getting hurt by the strain to happen to him. More than likely, he would become headstrong and do something stupid.

Mikoto had had enough stubbornness from one clansman lately, and he was therefore not in the mood for it from another one.

One more reason was that it would be a blow to Yata's pride. He would feel that Mikoto did not think him strong enough and that would spur on the headstrong mentality Yata had. Of course, Mikoto knew his vanguard was very powerful but today he wanted to get this job done quickly so he could get some rest. He didn't mind the karaoke too much. He could nap at the karaoke pub. After all, Mikoto could sleep through anything-even Fujishima's wailing about any roadkill he happened to come across.

Izumo observed Mikoto and Anna. He had seen the little exchange between the two of them and understood right away that Anna had seen something.

He also noticed that Anna still held Mikoto's hand.

That was normal sight from when Anna was little.

_A small white hand grasped the large one beside her as they strode through the streets. Izumo never got tired of the sight of Mikoto and Anna together: the rough, scary looking man, and the cute little girl. Izumo used to be tempted to taunt his friend about it, but he had decided against it. He would not make fun of a sight that was so sweet. _

Now, it was the handsome, dangerous man and the beautiful young woman.

* * *

"Anna, didn't you want to fight as well?" Yata questioned as they walked through the nearby shopping district. The sun was setting now, casting a beautiful orange glow over the area where people were hurrying home.

Anna shook her head. "I prefer to watch everyone else fight," she replied.

Yata grinned. "Is that so? Maybe we should have stayed at the warehouse then."

_As they neared the location of the warehouse, Mikoto exchanged a look with Izumo. Izumo nodded and stopped walking together with Mikoto._

_In response, everyone else did as well._

_In the cold street, one plain snowflake swirled down from the sky and decided to land on the very tip of Anna's nose. _

_Soon, a random few decided to join in and dust her already pale hair with an even paler color. Soon, everyone's red had white dots on them in Anna's eyesight for they were now experiencing a very light snowfall._

_Anna turned her attention to Mikoto, gazing up at the tall man who towered her. He had his hands shoved in his pockets as he returned her look. _

_Then, slowly, he lowered his head and pressed his mouth against the curve of her cheekbone. "Keep an eye on him," Mikoto murmured into her ear before drawing back._

_Anna made a soft noise of assertion. _

_"Mikoto," she said his name. _

_"Hm?"_

_She reached up and brushed a tiny snowflake from the corner of his mouth. _

_"The snow hides up your pretty red," she informed him. _

_The Red King straightened up and sighed. He released his red aura, and dissolved the cold material from his body._

_Anna's eyes seemed to glow a brighter red now as she looked at him, meaning that she was able to see his red better again. Mikoto placed a kind hand on top of her head and turned slightly to meet eyes with Yata. That was the signal for the skateboarder to leave with Anna. _

_As for the rest of clansmen, they had looked away pointedly from the tender scene despite hiding warm smiles._

"It's fine here," Anna responded to Yata's words and paused at a particular showcase window.

Everyone had little things they liked.

Little obsessions one could call them.

People like Anna's friend Akemi were anime freaks. They were obsessed with anime and manga and video games. Thus, she was termed 'otaku'. Very few people knew that she was one though. Akemi took great pains to hide that part of her and the only reason either Anna or Kei knew anything was because they often caught her reading shoujo manga when they studied together. She would tuck them inconspicuously in her text books and read.

Izumo's obsession was his bar. No doubt about it. There was no one Izumo loved more than his precious, precious bar. A scratch to his bar was like a stab at his heart.

Fujishima's obsession was animals.

Mikoto's obsession...was probably cigarettes and sleep.

Fushimi's obsession was probably Yata.

But as for Anna, what was her obsession? One could say the color red, for it was the only color she could truly decipher and she tended to prefer foods and drinks that were the color of red. Another could be Mikoto because he had 'the prettiest red'.

Yet, Anna had special kind of love for ribbons, lace and shoes.

And these three things were currently displayed beautifully on this specialized clothing shop.

Anna's face seemed to grow rounder, and brighter. Even her eyes grew wider and there was a pink flush along her very pale cheeks.

The last time Yata had seen her look anything like this was when she had asked Mikoto to name that horse she and Fujishima had picked up from outside.

Unfortunately, Mikoto's twisted sense of humor had quickly diminished that look of almost excitement on the child's face (which had been replaced with an uncharacteristically disturbed look).

It was interesting to see Anna this way now, especially as she eyed a large red ribbon that had been tied into a perfect bow and attached to a hairband. It was also red, which was another reason why she was attracted to it. Beside it was a pair of red shoes, very similar to the ones Anna was currently wearing.

Yata didn't understand her fascination with it.

It looked almost the same as her current pair right now only it did not have a strap at the front.

As for the red lace, it looked like something one might sew onto a dress. Yata did not understand why she found it so interesting.

"Don't you have a lot of these things already?" Yata questioned.

Anna turned to him and blinked.

Although her expression remained blank, it gave Yata the impression that she thought him ignorant in some kind of way.

The skateboarder scratched his head.

"Hey, why don't we get some pocky before we go?" he decided. He was silently praying that she would not request that they go in there.

Unfortunately for him, her next words indicated that this was what she wanted:

"I want to go in here," she told him.

Yata tried hard not to cringe.

It was a girly store.

He had been to girly stores before.

And he didn't like them.

Why didn't he like them?

Because they were filled with _girls _with _girly_ things like _girly_ clothes and _girly_ accessories all in _girly_ colors.

And Yata was quite satisfied with his own girlfriend who dragged him in there. It was just that he was often recognized as a famous skateboarder and women of all types just seemed to approach him to get his autograph. One might think that he was more used to the female population right now but Yata preferred that only Emi, Anna and his mother be the only females to around him.

Yata could not refuse Anna anything. She seemed to realize he did not want to go in, and was willing to let him have his way.

However, he knew when Anna was disappointed. Her eyelids had lowered very slightly and that was the look she gave when she wanted something, but could not get it and tried to hide how she felt.

How could Yata refuse her anything? He could never deny Anna anything! Little Anna or Older Anna was still someone he cared for deeply.

"Oh, alright. Let's just go in," he grumbled and he saw some brightness return to Anna's eyes.

As they were about to go, a familiar, irritating voice exclaimed, "Mi-sa-kiii!"

Yata froze.

He knew that voice.

That freakishly sadistic voice.

A tone of voice that made him shiver in _disgust_.

Almost as much as the sight of the familiar treacherous bastard. Yata would not admit it, but there was an undeniable thrill running up his spine from the sight of his mortal enemy. Yes, mortal enemy! That was what Saruhiko Fushimi had become to him!

"What are you doing here, monkey?!" Yata snarled upon sight of the young man with glasses who was wearing on his blue uniform.

Fushimi smiled and gave a light cackle. "Going shopping for your flat chested woman, Misaki?"

"None of your business! And don't call me that!"

Fushimi cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Oh? But it's your name. Your very _girly_ name," the bespectacled man taunted.

Yata's eyes seemed to go almost red.

Before he could retort, Fushimi turned his attention to Anna. He blinked and straightened more when he saw her.

"This is a familiar sight," he commented. He did not need to explain that he meant the dress.

Anna nodded.

"Mikoto and the others got this for me," she told him.

"Is that so?" Fushimi murmured.

Yata was looking from one to the other.

"Since when are you two so civil to each other?" he demanded. He had expected Fushimi to deliver some scathing remarks to Anna as well, but he was treating her normally.

Almost in a friendly manner as well.

"Since none of your business," Fushimi said to him.

"Die in a hole monkey boy," Yata snarled and flipped him his middle finger. Then he paused. "Wait, why are you here? Dressed in your uniform?"

"It's a matter for the Blue Clan. Nothing you uncouth Red guys need to worry about," Fushimi answered.

However, even Anna became suspicious.

"There's a strain around here," she remarked.

Fushimi did not say anything.

More than likely, the Blue Clan had probably gotten word of Takeshi's strain being on the loose and as they were the ones who were responsible for strains, they had come after it.

That meant that there was perhaps going to be a clash between the red and blue clans if the blue clan ended up in the warehouse as well.

* * *

"Hmph. Suoh. I should have expected you to be here," Reisi said commented with almost unhidden scorn.

Mikoto snorted. "That's my line, Munakata,"

"This is a matter for the Blue Clan and it does not concern you."

"Why don't you pull that stick out of your ass, Munakata? The strain went into our territory."

"Seneca is not under your jurisdiction as it has not been registered with us as your territory. The only place you have staked claim on is your bar."

Izumo intervened then. When these two got into it, the tensions tended to rise significantly. "Uh...look, Munakata, you know as well as we do that once a large population of one clan reside in the same area, it becomes informal territory to us because we reserve the right to protect our clansmen. We may not have as much claim over Seneca as Homra bar which is formal territory, but it does not mean that we do not have a stake on anyone who threatens it."

Reisi looked at Izumo now, "If the strain was in Seneca, you would have reserved the right to get him but we are in Shizume City where the Blue Clan has the full authority to do what needs to be done when it comes to strains,"

Mikoto dropped the cigarette butt to the ground after taking one last drag from it. He ground the toe of his boot into it and shoved his hands into his pockets.

Then, with a soft, deadly voice, he said without pause, "Under Protocol 12 of the Territorial Jurisdiction Regarding Strains, any King reserves the right to take matters into his own hands if his clansmen have been threatened by a strain, no matter where the territory is."

Reisi snorted. Mikoto did not look it, but he did know the law book given to him by the Gold King inside out.

But it was also laws like these that created trouble for him. Technically, a case like this would require cooperation on the part of both clans, but the Blue and Red clans tended to have too much friction between them, making it difficult. The only reason why they had been able to work together a few years ago when they were going after Iwao had been because the Gold King had ordered it and there had been very little choice in the matter. The same thing applied for the situation with the Rise.

"You can leave," Mikoto added which was the other option the Blue Clan did have, "you're not needed here."

Reisi's eyes narrowed and a cold gleam came to them. "Under Article 144, Section A of the Protection of the Rights of Strains, the Blue Clan retains the authority to capture and put any strain on trial, no matter where he has committed any crime. We reserve the right to protect and give him a fair trial."

Izumo let out a weary sigh. These guys were like children. They were like two kids who were arguing over who a toy should belong to instead of playing together. The only difference now was that they were using the law and big words to defend themselves.

Behind all of that, it was really pride that was stoppering both sides. Neither wanted to back down because both the two kings were so stubborn, so damned prideful that neither was willing to bend in any kind of way.

Not only that, the tension was rising between the two which was affecting the clansmen on both sides.

"Do whatever the hell you want, Munakata. Just stay out of my way," Mikoto informed him as he pulled out a cigarette.

"Likewise, Suoh," Reisi retorted and turned to his own men.

Scowls and glares were exchanged as the two sets of very different people went in the opposite direction to each other.

* * *

Mikoto recalled what he had learned about the strain. Currently, Takeshi was imprisoned by the Gold King as his clan handled matters of normal humans that got mixed together with strains. However, Takeshi's strain had attempted to infiltrate the facility but the members of the Gold Clan were very powerful.

The strain had barely managed to get away.

Although Daikaku was well aware of the strain and the threat he posed, it seemed that he was letting Mikoto deal with it because he understood how territorial, protective and possessive the Red Clan was.

However, he did not order the Blue Clan to back off either. For him, when those two clans met, it was so troublesome that he felt that it was better to not get involved and to let them sort things out on their own.

That did not stop him from throwing them together when he could see an advantage in the situation such as the issue with Iwao. In the end, Daikaku was able to get the truth about what Iwao had been up to, thanks to the work both clans had done.

Right now though, there was no need for him to meddle between those two clans. That would be like getting between two dogs who were fighting.

And that was plain stupid to get involved in.

This was one single strain, but when several men began to show themselves from hiding behind the large crates stacked in the warehouse, they came to realize that these were all Takeshi's men.

No one really knew what the strain looked like but Mikoto had the ability to somehow sense him. It was like an extra talent that allowed him to 'feel' when someone else who had supernatural powers was nearby.

Anna was one of the very few people who had been able to hide her abilities from him when he had now met her, because Anna had created such a barrier around herself, no one could tell what was really going on with her.

However, there were others were certainly not normal and exuded a certain kind of 'vibe' one could say, that enabled Mikoto to know that there was someone abnormal nearby.

Unfortunately, Reisi was able to do so as well. It was not that he operated on instinct like Mikoto, but that he had sophisticated equipment developed by the Gold King that was utilized by the Blue Clan for the specific purpose of weeding out strains who were hiding. There were limitations to using that equipment as well, for there was only so much supernatural energy they were able to pick on, but they were useful.

"Take care of them," Mikoto ordered his clansmen who responded with a loud, "No Blood! No Bone! No Ash!".

He had to get to the strain himself. The reason for this was because this person was perhaps one of the more dangerous strains around. He had speed and he was able to poison his opponents. Mikoto would not have any of his clansmen hurt.

He would have to deal with the strain himself for he was powerful enough to take him on.

Mikoto walked up the stairs in the warehouse, his boots causing a clanging sound to erupt from the metal structure as he ascended.

Beneath, fighting was going on between his clansmen and Takeshi's men. It seemed that the strain might have organized everyone he knew to try to break his boss out of the Gold King's prison. Whoever the poison-powered person was, gave Mikoto the impression that he had a lot of balls for thinking he could do so using regular people.

Either that or was naïve.

The strain was probably very young, and this made Mikoto wonder if it even properly understood what it was.

When Mikoto reached the top of the stairs, a set of needles immediately aimed for him.

A barrier of fire sprang up, deflecting the needles.

Mikoto felt a swift movement in the air.

The strain had sped to his left, so quickly that Mikoto had barely seen him.

That was no problem for the Red King.

He could handle this guy.

Mikoto let out a sigh. He lifted his arm up which became engulfed in his red aura. He aimed it in the direction of the strain, and released a fireball. Just as he expected, the strain ran in the opposite direction and Mikoto had already formed another fireball with his other hand and sent in the direction that the strain was moving such that it would hit him before he knew it.

The strain would have gotten hit.

In fact, he stopped his swift movement, finally appearing with his arms blocking his face in defense.

However, Reisi Munakata appeared and used his sword to send a blue slash at the fireball, destroying it.

"What the hell are you doing Munakata?" Mikoto demanded, annoyed now.

"Suoh, I am taking the strain into custody," Reisi informed him.

"You cockroach," Mikoto snapped out an insult. It was his way of telling the Blue King that he was irritating pest. Really, did Reisi Munakata know how bloody _nagging_ he was? "I would have given him to you after I dealt with him, so just stay out of my way."

"I do not have the confidence that you won't harm him. Based on the information we got, he comes from a family of poverty and was oppressed by the people in his deprived village because of his power. From a young age, Takeshi brought him up and took him in, promising to take care of his family. In exchange, he was to give the drug lord his undying loyalty. Even if this strain, whose name is Sora, wanted to leave, Takeshi already told him that he would destroy his family if he did. I must take him into custody and ensure the safety of his family and allow him a fair trial," Reisi argued.

Mikoto ran a hand through his hair. "Munakata, you dumbass. While you were giving me that little sob story, he got away."

Indeed, the spot behind the Blue King was empty.

Before Reisi could say anything more, someone shouted from the bottom, "Captain! The strain's getting away! He's heading to the shopping district!"

Mikoto and Reisi cursed simultaneously.

"A lot of people could hurt," Reisi muttered.

Anna and Yata were there, and Mikoto had _specifically_ kept them from the warehouse so as to not endanger them.

* * *

Anna sighed as Yata and Fushimi continued to argue over something insignificant.

"A virgin like you has no right to lecture me!" Fushimi snarled.

"Nothing's wrong with being a virgin! Are you trying to say that you're some sort of man-slut?!" Yata shot back.

"I bet you never get laid because your flat chested girlfriend refuses the evidence of your virginity!"

Several people who were passing by paused at the arguing, then hurried away when they heard the words being exchanged.

"At least my girlfriend never complains about me!" Yata retorted.

That seemed to make Saruhiko pause. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly and suspiciously.

Yata snorted. "Have you ever heard Chie-san when she drinks too much sake? She says all you do is whine about me and Emi, as if you think it's a miracle that there's someone who could be happy with me!"

"It _is_ a miracle that someone even wants you," Fushimi agreed in a flat tone of voice.

"Kiss my ass, you damned monkey! Emi never has to grumble about me the way your girl does! I'm more successful at my relationship than you are!"

"How are you so sure that your washboard woman doesn't say anything about you?" Fushimi demanded. 'Washboard' was simply another term he used to refer to Emi's lack of chest.

That made Yata pause. "Does she?"

Fushimi huffed, "No,"

That made the skateboarder grin like a grand fool over this supposed achievement of having a better relationship with his girlfriend who happened to be the best friend of Fushimi's girlfriend.

"Do you rant about Mikoto-san to her?" Fushimi asked.

Yata blinked, surprised at the strange question that seemed to have nothing to do with what they had been arguing about.

"Well...I talk about him to him. I meant, Mikoto-san is like the greatest!" Yata exclaimed brightly.

Fushimi folded his arms and walked closer to the showcase window.

The strange seriousness on the part of his rival made Yata frown. Anna observed him quietly a short distance away.

Fushimi placed his hand on the glass pane and informed his former comrade slowly, "Chie likes to play video games with me. If there's a new manga she thinks I would like is coming out, she makes sure that I know about it. She watches action movies with me and she drags me around to go to different restaurants that she thinks I would like. She never admits her reasons for doing all these things but I know it's because she loves spending time with me. She's a good girlfriend and she would make an _excellent_ best friend,"

Yata lifted an eyebrow at the information he had just been given.

"An excellent best friend?" Yata repeated. Why did he suddenly feel something like envy come up in his heart? He and Fushimi used to play lots of video games and read manga together. They watched action movies together too and sometimes ate whatever weird, random food they came across.

_"What is this shit?" Yata demanded when Fushimi handed him the bubble cup he had sipped from. _

_"Milkshake," the middle school boy responded. _

_Yata eyed it suspiciously. "You look sick. What's wrong with it?"_

_"Nothing's wrong with it," Fushimi replied with a shrug although he had gone a bit pale. _

_"Then why do you look like you wanna barf?"_

_"Because it's different."_

_Yata was silent as he watched the cup again. He knew his friend was very picky when it came to food so maybe it might not be so bad for himself. He took a drink out of it and paused. _

_"Why does it taste like mayonnaise?" Yata asked in surprise. _

_"Because that's what it: a mayonnaise milkshake."_

_Yata watched it with fascination and then took a big slurp from it. Who the heck cared how odd it was? It tasted damned good to him. _

_"Thanks Saru!"_

As these memories came to him, they made Yata feel a bit...put out.

Was the skateboarder...jealous of Chie?

No, no he couldn't possibly be jealous of his rival's girlfriend and his own girlfriend's best friend!

"Yeah. A lot better than you," Fushimi said to Yata's earlier words. He spoke in a tone that suggested that he was perhaps weary of his arguing with his former comrade. He moved to go and deliberately bumped the short fellow's shoulder as he walked past him.

"Hey-!" Yata snapped. To his shock, Anna hurried after Fushimi. "Anna, where are you going?!"

"Just a minute," she told him and caught Fushimi's blue jacket. They were a short distance away from Yata who was glaring, but well out of earshot.

Fushimi did not turn around to look at the girl he still cared for deeply.

"You knew, Anna."

He did not need to explain that this meant that she knew the real reason why he left Homra. He remembered the reason why he had joined in the first place. It was because Yata had expressed an interest, but even more than that, he had wanted to protect this person he called a best friend.

A long time ago, Yata had not had a normal family life with both parents and this was tough on the chestnut haired man.

Fushimi did not show it, but his happiness was his best friend's happiness.

When he joined Homra, it was to protect Yata's joy.

Then the short fellow became too happy and began obsessing over Mikoto. In do doing, he began to leave out the person who had been there for him before the Red Clan.

Fushimi had left, not simply because he had been angry at Yata, but because he knew he had to find his own way in life so that he could move on.

That did not mean he did not get a big thrill out of seeing Yata and heckling him. The times they met up and fought were the most fun for him, especially when he delivered a strong blow to skateboarder and even when he received a harsh one himself.

He was a bit twisted in a sense, but that was what too much hurt did to a person. They become bitter, and a little insane. Some of his sanity had been restored thanks to Chie, but that did not mean that the Blue Clansman forgot his past with the person who had betrayed him first.

Something began to vibrate in Fushimi's pocket.

He immediately pulled out a small metal device that showed a radar with a green dot moving on it. He cursed.

The strain was nearby.

He had to capture it!

In fact, it was heading in their direction at an alarming rate.

"Saruhiko?" Anna said his name questioningly.

"Get behind me!" he snapped and whipped out his sword.

His blue aura blazed and he swiped his blade where he pinpointed the strain to pass.

He could barely see it, especially with the place growing dark but he missed.

Despite this, the strain was on the ground, blocking any attacks.

It was a boy who was no more than fifteen.

He was pale, thin and had shaggy black hair. The teenager looked very pitiful to be honest.

However, he glared up at Fushimi fiercely, like a little angry beast.

He lifted his arm out and sent something flying at Fushimi.

They were poison needles.

The Blue Clansman and Anna jumped out of the way in time.

Yata hurried over.

It was his duty to protect Anna, not the monkey's!

"Stay out of my way!" Fushimi snapped.

"You get out of mine! He's ours!" Yata retorted and the two men sent red flames after the strain who barely made it out of the way.

The streets were thankfully more or less cleared as most people had already hurried home. It was a workday and therefore not many would linger around to do shopping.

However, the few who did, screamed out loud and moved to run away.

What happened next occurred so quickly that even Anna could barely understand what had happened.

All she knew was that Yata and Fushimi were physically fighting the strain where while the strain sent his poisoned needles at Fushimi, Yata attacked from the back by rearing up on his skateboard with red flames and trouncing the teenager.

The boy yelled out at the attack and was lying on the ground a short distance from Anna.

Anna turned her attention to Yata and Fushimi who were arguing again.

"This guy belongs to us!" Yata was yelling, but then he paused, his eyes growing wide as they fell upon Anna.

Anna understood what was happening then for in a split second she caught sight of the strain who was somewhat half dead, lifting his arm and throwing what seemed to be thousands of poisoned needles at her. It was like a last act of vengeance on his part.

Even Anna, for all her martial arts training, would not be quick enough to get out of the way.

But Yata used the power of his flames given to him by Mikoto to add to his speed so that he could move swiftly enough to grab hold of Anna and cover her body with his.

She still felt two needles pierce her: one at the base of her neck where it connected to her shoulder, while the other wedged itself into her stomach where Misaki's torso had not covered her.

* * *

Anna was lying on the cold hard ground and covering her body was Yata's.

He was very lightweight compared to Mikoto as Mikoto's larger, stronger body was the only male one she was so accustomed to.

Vaguely, Anna heard Fushimi yell out something angrily and there was a blast as if he had attacked the strain.

But Anna's attention remained on Yata.

He was pushing up on his elbows, smiling down at her. He seemed a little weak and out of breath. A drop of blood fell onto her cheek and slowly rolled down.

It had come from Yata's ear.

"Misaki..." she whispered as it slowly dawned on her that Yata's entire back was covered in needles.

"We were supposed to go karaoke," he told her.

Anna unthinkingly removed the needles from her neck and her stomach. Somewhere to the back of her mind, she remembered Izumo mentioning to her that if she was to ever get stabbed with a needle to not take it out.

But there so many things thoughts racing through her right now that she instinctively removed the weapon from her in order to take care of Yata.

"I guess we'll go at another time," Yata continued, smiling so sincerely at her.

Almost sadly.

Anna pushed at his shoulders, frightened now.

_She felt the car jolt. There was a loud screech and the sound of screaming. A crash._

_Blood._

_And then she was wearing black as two coffins were lowered into the graveyard. _

"Misaki..." she began again as her heart rate began to speed up.

_A man with white hair and a gun, aimed at the camera. A wicked smirk and a gunshot. _

_Izumo's arms around her, hugging her tightly. Mikoto's hand placed comfortingly on her head._

_Another death._

_The loss of another loved one. _

Anna's hands tightened on Yata's shoulders as tears gathered in her eyes.

_A sword pierced through his chest and blood splattered on the pure white snow. _

"_I'm sorry Anna, I won't be able to show you that lovely red anymore."_

No, no.

She couldn't bear it.

Not Yata too!

"Misaki!" she cried out as his eyes slowly closed and he slumped over her.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. The memories Anna had at the end were the death of her parents, Tatara's death and when Reisi stabbed Mikoto. **

**I've also heard that there's a restaurant in Japan that serves only mayonnaise items. I saw it on Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. **

**Thank you also, for those of you who follow, favorite and review this story. **

**For those of you who reviewed the last chapter, I thank you so much especially. There are many times I have thought about dropping this story because I get the impression that many people have lost interest in the story for various reasons. However, because you all let me know your thoughts on it, and let me know that you looked forward to the next chapter, I managed to get back some enthusiasm to continue. Thank you so much :)**

**_AngelGirl0200: The kitty will come back, if I remember to bring him in because I'm so forgetful sometimes! I'm pleased you enjoyed the last chapter. Yes, Yata came in! Unfortunately! Lol. _  
**

**_Indochine: I guess that's the effects of having a large family-too many interruptions! Something was supposed to happen already, but because of how i write, sometimes it gets delayed. Don't worry, something's coming up ;) I love fluffy, chubby cats! I don't like mean kitties either though. I do have a pet. I have a dog who is more than a decade old now and I had a rabbit, but he died recently :( He lived for several years and he was funniest, silliest bunny ever! Your kitty is 9 years old in human years? Wow. I'm pleased that he's lived so long! He sounds like a real sweetheart :) You're welcome, and thanks for always reviewing. It means a lot to me that you're still reading my story and keeping up with it after all this time:)_**

**_magicalnana: I'm really glad that you liked the naked shirt parts! It definitely looks like their actions are gonna do a lot of talking ;) It is summer, it's hot but a bit rainy for me occasionally. I don't mind the rain. I prefer it over snow any day. _**

**_LadyCassie: I have the most fun writing in parts with Lion-O :) I'm glad that you see that Anna still retained some of her child-like ways :) I'm so sorry to hear about Jessie. She sounded like she was such a lovely animal. You seem to really love your pets which is really, really good :)_**

**_Arius the Heretic: I'm glad you still liked the chapter despite that. I also agree with you that it is a bit disturbing for a minor to have sex, even consensual with someone older. In this story, I work with it that the age of consent is seventeen and that the marriageable age for females in Japan is sixteen. That's why I often mention Izumo wanting to marry Anna to Mikoto. I also kind of go with it that Anna has a specific strain type which gives her the physical, sexual and emotional maturity of someone older. I'm not saying it's fine for a sixteen year old to have sex with someone older (in fact, I prefer marriage first) but for the sake of this fiction I just use these different factors and work with them. I'm glad that you keep up with this story despite the age issue. That really means a lot to me. I'm going somewhere with this though, and probably in about three chapters (hopefully), you will understand :) _**

**_xNightDreamerx: It was actually a cattail but still, just as much fun! I'm pleased that you were able to laugh so much at the chapter! That makes me really glad :) Maybe he will somehow get them together :)_**

**_DBerryNia: I put in a 'Mi-Sa-Ki' for you here ;)_**

**_LindyLinn: I'm pleased that you liked the chapter! Don't worry, there will be more kisses to come! Thanks for your supporting me, and those very kind words. i really appreciate it :)_**

**_Little Weirdo: Homework! The bane of our existence :( Hope you were able to get through with it all. I'm glad you liked that part with the cattail :)_**

**Thanks again, and I love you all.**

**God bless :)**


	17. Kisses for Poison

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: PLEASE READ! This chapter is suggestive. It does not contain a lemon or any kind of real sexual activity but it is a bit descriptive. I will still give another warning later on in the chapter._**

**_-Also, there is mentions of what happened from the short story 'A Doll's Kimono' by Raikaku Rei. The English translation of it can be found in the tumblr of chilly-territory. _**

**_-Someone posted some of the 4koma comics for K. They are very cute and full of chibis! If you have not seen them yet, check it out in the tumblr of k-the-lost-king. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 17: Kisses for Poison**_

It was dark, cold and wet.

Anna did not know much about what was going on.

Yata was removed from her while a flood of noise surrounded her.

She was shaking violently and someone was calling her name. Yet, it was like a thick fog had surrounded her, and nothing was penetrating through to her. The only thing she was somewhat aware of was strong arms lifting her carrying her.

She was placed in an area that was soft and had a familiar scent. Some part of her mind acknowledged that she was in Izumo's car. Two people were with her: there was a tall, lean figure behind her, and a powerful one in front of her.

Through blurred eyes, she made out Mikoto's muscular form, pulling his t-shirt out of his jeans. His necklaces were tossed around with his movements and eventually came to settle against his hard, lightly tanned chest.

She watched through her distorted vision as he slowly lifted his hand and caught a firm grip on the large ribbon at the front of her dress that held the little cloak around her shoulders together. Then, without warning, he tore it from her body and tossed it aside.

Anna could barely even protest. All that came out was a soft moan from his abrupt action. Behind her, Izumo pushed her upward slightly in order to remove the red ruffled material from her shoulders.

Why was she so weak? She felt so lethargic that she could barely speak!

Revealed now was the black garment of her bodice that had a chiffon style. Yet, even this had several black ribbons in the middle area, going straight up to her neck where there was a particularly large one.

Mikoto's eyes narrowed in annoyance. He could easily just undo each ribbon.

But he had neither the time nor patience for that.

Instead, he ripped off the ribbon that was tied high on her neck and tossed that aside as well. He pulled the neckline of her dress aside and revealed the wounded area on her neck.

Mikoto observed the mark caused by the poisoned needle. It was a tiny red pinprick that was slowly blackening.

Izumo caught the side of her head from the back and tilted it slightly in order to have a better look at the wounded area.

"_Anna pulled out the needles," Fushimi informed him and Izumo fought hard to not slap a hand to his forehead in exasperation._

_Hadn't he warned her not to do that if she got hit?!_

"_Kusanagi-san, I think she might have been panicking about Misaki and pulled those needles of herself; she was so terrified."_

Terrified of losing another loved one was what she had been panicking about.

And the consequence now was that she was truly like a doll in Izumo's arms for she could barely move or talk because the poison was already working in her.

"You better hurry," Izumo said to Mikoto who grunted in response.

He bent his wild red head and covered the poisoned area.

Anna made another soft gasp at the feel of his hot mouth sucking hard at that sensitive area of her skin. She struggled weakly for she was confused. She could barely see, barely hear and Misaki...

"Mikoto...Misaki..." she whispered weakly.

Mikoto released the flesh from the hold his mouth had on it and spat the blood and poison out into his white t-shirt which he had just removed.

He cupped Anna's cheek in one hand and peered down at her with fierce golden eyes.

"Yata will be okay," he assured her before he returned to her wound.

Tears came to her eyes as she remembered Yata blocking her from the attack of Takeshi's strain...the way he protected her and the way his blood dripped onto her face before he collapsed on top of her. "No...no...Mikoto's lying," she sobbed and began to struggle.

Mikoto drew back and caught her wrists in his hands. His golden eyes glowered fiercely at her.

"Do I ever lie to you?" he demanded angrily.

The poisoned girl turned her head aside but Mikoto took hold of her chin between her his fingers and made her meet his sharpened gaze.

Her movements had weakened her more and she could only shake her head to answer.

Mikoto's eyes gleamed with satisfaction at her response before he returned his attention to her damaged skin.

She moaned softly when he increased the pressure of his suction before lifting his head and spitting into his t-shirt again. His mouth was filled with the iron taste of her blood, and the bitter taste of the strain's poison.

Izumo, who was still behind her, held her shoulders more tightly. "You're in worse shape than Yata-chan because you pulled out the needles from yourself. Removing them automatically releases the poison. Yata's needles remained in him. That means that the poison will be released at a much, much slower pace. He's probably in pain, but he'll be okay because we got him in time."

As the understanding that their vanguard would be alright slowly sank in, Anna was becoming more and more aware of Mikoto's administrations to her.

His mouth...it was so damned hot!

Once more, Mikoto lifted his head and repeated the procedure of pressing the t-shirt to his mouth to rid it off the poison. His actions seemed to be working because she felt herself slowly regaining her senses.

"Where else are you hurt?" Mikoto demanded.

A little more clear headed now, she was able to shift her hand and touch her stomach, close to her navel.

Mikoto's hands went to the collar of her dress now.

Anna froze in shock when he tore the very front of it apart in one powerful movement with his bare hands, shredding it straight down to the large bow that was connected at her waist.

"You didn't have to rip that much," Anna heard Izumo say.

"Shut up," Mikoto snapped. Sometimes he really did forget his own strength, but he would have to apologize to Anna later.

Revealed to him was her beautiful, white flesh: her firm breasts that were clad in a deep red demi cup bra. It pushed the two mounds together, creating a perfect cleavage. This was a distinct reminder that this was no child in front of him.

Her stomach was flat and smooth. It was untainted from any marks except for the area right next to her cute little belly button where there was a blackening spot. It was probably the size of a bottle cap now, but the darkness was spreading on her white skin.

Mikoto lowered his red head to it.

Anna felt the brush of his red hair on her lower ribs first. It was a light, ticklish feel and her body responded by shuddering very slightly. Then, without warning, Mikoto's mouth was on the wound on her stomach. She let out a gasp at his unexpected actions.

His teeth lightly caught hold of her flesh and he began to apply a dragging force onto her skin, pulling on it. She could feel the hot, wet heat of his mouth and she whimpered.

Without a doubt, the car was getting hotter.

And without a doubt, her _body_ was heating up.

There was no way that she, who was so sensitive to Mikoto's touch, would not feel that overly familiar tightening coil of desire settle and grow in her when he was practically nipping at her flesh, suckling on it.

It may be for the purpose of removing poison, but it created a feeling she was silently praying that no one else realized that she was experiencing right now.

After all, Eric was sitting to the front passenger seat with Fujishima in the driver's side. Izumo was behind her and Mikoto was the cause for the thick, overwhelming atmosphere in here.

Anna was sweating now. Long trickles of it ran down her face and her stomach as her breathing came in short breaths. She watched as Mikoto lifted his mouth from her body to place it into the t-shirt before returning to her again.

But she was not the only one feeling a significant rise in the temperature.

Everyone else in the car was sweating as well.

Even Izumo felt droplets of water run down his skin.

Mikoto's body was exuding this heat and he did not seem to realize it. It was bloody cold outside, but it was freaking sauna inside here. Hell, if they sweated anymore, it would turn into a hot spring!

Anna's stomach was wet with her own sweat and from the moisture of Mikoto's own body as he continued his relentless sucking on her.

He sat up and spat out some of the fluid before sending down the car's window when he sensed someone familiar approach.

It was Yuki Natsume.

She glanced inside of the car and looked a little relieved to see that Mikoto was already draining out the poison from Anna. The more that was removed from her body would mean the quicker the antidote would work.

What she hadn't expected was how provocative the pair looked bathed in sweat as Mikoto seemed to almost dominate Anna with his actions. The two could pass for a pair of models for some sensual magazine.

Mikoto opened the car door and stepped outside to speak to her. He did not really care that he was more or less naked from his stomach to his neck and that it was freezing cold outside. Well, he was the Red King and his power was fire based so all he needed to do was release his aura to warm up a bit.

Izumo carefully set Anna against the seat. He quickly grabbed Mikoto's jacket which had been squashed between its owner and Anna. He laid it on her, hiding up her half naked state. Then, he opened the door and left as well.

He came around the car to where Natsume and Mikoto were standing and saw her hand the King something.

"Here," she said and gave a small tube to Mikoto.

He accepted it from her and frowned before his gaze flicked to her again.

"You have to drink it," she informed him.

"Why?"

"Since the poison has already entered Anna's body, into her bloodstream itself, we need someone else's body to manufacture the antidote that will create antibodies to destroy the poison. I have an antidote readymade already but as I was only able to come up with it recently, I only made a certain amount. I had not counted on Yata-san getting so badly injured and I will have to use all the readymade antidote for him. However, another healthy person's body can take in these chemicals and create the remedy."

Izumo pointed out, "But the poison is in Mikoto's mouth right now. If he swallows anything, won't he get affected by it as well?"

"No. The poison is weak against stomach acid."

"How do we give it to Anna?" Izumo asked as Mikoto opened the tube and without asking anything else, such as the side effects, he drank it down in one go.

Natsume frowned at Mikoto. "You should have waited until I explained."

"Why?" Mikoto questioned as he used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.

"Because then you might have reconsidered being the person to create the antidote. The only way to get the antidote into Anna is to exchange body fluids with her."

Mikoto's froze while Izumo's mouth dropped open.

Izumo was the one to speak then. He almost sputtered out, "You mean Anna and Mikoto have to have sex?!"

* * *

_It was a cold night._

_Ironically, it was silent despite the amount of fighting that had just taken place. A short distance away, under a bent lamp-post lay an injured teenage boy. _

_Across the street, lying on the pavement was a chestnut haired young man, who seemed to be resting upon a beautiful, terrified young woman. _

"_S-Saruhiko," Anna whispered up to the man who towered above them. She was shaking so badly, and her eyes were so wide that it made the Blue Clansman worried. _

_Fushimi tsked._

_Stupid Misaki...getting so injured like that frightening poor Anna!_

_He lifted his foot and kicked Yata's thigh._

_The young man groaned. _

_"Oi_, _P__orcupine, can't you see that your precious Mikoto-san's princess is frightened because of you?" Fushimi snapped. Yata was not about to die, but he **could**._

_Fushimi would not admit it, but he was concerned._

_However, he had a feeling that Anna might be having a panic attack. If he understood her well enough as he believed, the many times she had lost someone in her life and actually witnessed loosing them had left emotional repercussions on her._

_Right now, he needed to get her to calm down and the only way he could do it was to try his best to get her to understand that Yata was going to be alright. _

_Yata groaned. _

"_Damned monkey," Yata grumbled. "it hurts too much."_

"_Look at Anna."_

_Yata stiffened and pushed himself upward. He saw Anna terrified face and the way the tears were rolling down her face. She let out a soft whimper at the sight of him. _

_The skateboarder was surprised. _

"_I'm not dead," he tried to assure her, but it seemed that his words were not getting through to her. _

"_Misaki," she sobbed his name. _

"_It just hurts a lot," he said smilingly._

"_I better move you from her," Fushimi told him._

_Yata stiffened. _

"_Don't touch me!" the skateboarder protested. _

_The glasses fellow let out a heavy sigh. "Why not?"_

"_'Cause you're creepy!"_

_Fushimi rolled his eyes and folded his arms. Then he smirked. "I'll do just that Mi-Sa-Kii. I'll let your precious Mikoto-san see how **intimate** you're being with his youngest female clansman."_

_Yata stiffened at that. Here he was, lying on top of Anna, feeling her very feminine body against his...and she was crying._

_Somehow this felt like deja vu...it reminded him of that time she had asked him to help her put on her kimono. She had been a child at that time and he had fallen on top of her. _

_Although Mikoto had dismissed what had happened as nothing of great significance, it did not mean that the King was going to take well how much touching Yata was doing with Anna right now._

_Even if it was unintentional._

_Especially with her crying. _

_Well, at least Yata did not **think** Mikoto would be pleased although realistically, Mikoto would be more concerned about his vanguard's condition. _

"_And Anna isn't a washboard like your own woman. Maybe I should take a picture and show her how closely you're holding another girl?" Fushimi continued and let out a rather sadistic laugh._

_Yata's entire face went red with anger. _

"_Fine!" he snarled, conceding his fate of having Fushimi help him. _

_Fushimi nodded and reached down to grab his shoulders. _

"_Ouch! Don't touch me so much!" Yata quarreled and squirmed. _

"_How else am I supposed to get you away from her?!"_

"_Your hands are cold! Where have they been?"_

_Fushimi let out a quiet laugh. "Misakii...why are you complaining? You used to like my touch."_

_"You pervert! Why don't you go talk to Chie-san like that?!"_

_The Blue Clansman noted that his words had caught Anna's attention. Good, that would probably calm her down a bit if she was finally able to realize that Yata was just fine. _

"_Your mouth isn't hurting even though you claim to be in pain."_

_"Kiss my ass, monkey!"_

_Fushimi shrugged. "What are you getting so uptight about, Misaki? I was only talking about that time I was teaching you to use the control for that game console I got as a gift. We were playing Street Fighter and I was helping you to use the different key combinations to get certain moves."_

_Yata scowled darkly. Damned monkey!_

"_Mi-sa-ki...do you have special feelings for me?" Fushimi couldn't help but mock. _

"_Yes; hatred!" Yata snapped out. _

_Fushimi grinned evilly, not at all daunted by his former friend's words. If anything, they **thrilled** him. _

_"That's it Misaki, hate me, loathe and keep coming after me!" _

_Then, he cackled so much like a madman that Yata wondered why a flash of lightning didn't appear behind him and depict him as the stereotypical lunatic villain from the movies. _

_Yata sighed as Saruhiko caught his shoulders once more from the back and carefully shifted him off from Anna._

"_Saru?" Yata voiced his former comrade's face as he lay facedown on the cold, hard pavement. _

"_What?"_

_Fushimi was now moving his feet off from Anna. _

"_You're a damned weirdo, you know that? I'll never understand what Chie-san sees in you."_

_Fushimi snorted, not really caring for his words. He understood Chie and Chie understood him. That was enough. _

_Saruhiko turned to the female now, the only other member from the Red Clan he would risk his life for (aside from Yata, but he would never admit it). _

_His eyes widened when he saw the needles beside her._

_Anna hiccupped softly from her sobbing. Her tears had dried but she was still shaking._

"_Anna, did you pull out any needles from you?" he demanded, alarmed now. _

_She nodded._

"_Shit," he cursed softly and pulled out his PDA. The only thing he could do now was call for help. He remembered the effects of the poison: the victim gradually lost strength in his/her body and slowly their organs would shut down. Not only that, it seemed that what he was might be mistaking as a panic attack was actually the poison starting to work on her._

"_Didn't those idiots tell you not to?!"_

"_They did, but I forgot," she replied. Her head began to hurt...her vision was becoming blurry. She heard shouts and then Mikoto's voice._

_She was gathered into strong arms. _

"_Mikoto..." she began. _

"_You brat...why is that when you don't go looking for trouble, trouble finds you?" Mikoto muttered somewhere above her._

* * *

As far as Yuki Natsume could see, Mikoto's expression remained blank...unlike Izumo who looked a bit frantic.

Natsume smiled.

"Well, sex would probably be very effective but I don't think that's the solution anyone wants right now. Especially because Anna is a very fertile female and Mikoto's little tadpoles are probably very virile. I don't think the presence of a little one is going to be welcomed so soon."

Mikoto snorted at her words. 'Little tadpoles'? As if he would let them go swimming inside of Anna! He even dismissed the implication that he could get Anna pregnant. Such a thought was so far off from him that he would only take it as a lame joke.

After all, the idea of Anna having his child was a thought he found so absurd it was absolutely farfetched to him. The idea of having kids on a whole just seemed to be so far from him his mind that it was laughable. Even when he and Anna had been discussing baby names recently, he had not given any serious thought to such a topic.

Besides, weren't there ways of preventing his 'little tadpoles' from 'fertilizing' her? Weren't there things like birth control pills?

Not that he was planning to have a sexual relationship with her.

"So they don't need to have sex?" Izumo questioned slowly.

Mikoto shot him annoyed look which Izumo responded to with a shrug. The bartender needed to know because he was Anna's guardian and while he did want Anna and Mikoto to get together, he did not believe that it should be because they were forced to have sex.

Natsume sighed. "No, Izumo. The next best way is through oral contact. The tongue itself develops a lot of the antibodies and the make up of the cells of that particular organ can easily allow for this antidote to be transferred from Anna to Mikoto through their tongues. It is contained in Mikoto's saliva so once it touches Anna's tongue, it will absorb the antidote and find its way into her bloodstream."

"You mean they have to kiss a lot?"

Natsume nodded. "Practically speaking, yes. The solution he just drank is already working and the antidote is probably forming inside of him. Another thing Mikoto could do is use his tongue on the areas where the needles pierced Anna. The antibodies will transfer directly into the wounded areas and go into her system's circulation from there as well."

Natsume and Izumo were watching Mikoto now.

They seemed to be wondering what he was thinking and how he felt about this.

He shrugged and turned back to the car door.

He knew what he had to do.

"I'll explain to Izumo the side effects," she said, knowing that the Red King did not care right now. His only concern was making sure that Anna got the antidote...even from such an unconventional way.

Mikoto looked at her from over his shoulder. "I want you to handle the strain, and I want feedback from you personally concerning Yata."

Natsume nodded. She knew that Mikoto trusted her and her family with these matters. After Izumo, there were very few people in the clan with experience in dealing with a lot of high ranking people from different clans. Therefore, she was in a suitable position to take certain responsibilities into her own hands.

Mikoto entered the car once more and saw that Anna was leaning against the seat with her head tilted back. Her breath was coming in short puffs. Although he probably sucked out most of the poison, some of it had still entered her bloodstream as the dangerous liquid had ten minutes to do so: it took them a full five minutes to actually locate Anna after she had been pierced with the needles.

This was largely due to clashes with the Blue Clan who were more intent on stirring up trouble with the Red Clan than actually getting the strain. Normally, the Red Clan would become intolerable of the Blue clansmen and would get into verbal and physical battles but the person who was in danger here was the Red princess.

Who gave a damn about the Blue Clan when Anna was in trouble?

It took another three minutes to reach Anna. Izumo's car had been parked in the shopping district so when they arrived on scene, Fujishima and Eric brought it around. Within the next two minutes Fushimi explained that Anna had removed the needles from herself. From there, they contacted Natsume to find out what to do with Anna.

Mikoto could distinctly recall lifting his poisoned princess into his arms while his second in command used his PDA to contact their fellow clansman.

Thankfully, they had already made arrangements with Natsume to come to Seneca on this very day with the antidote because they knew how dangerous Takeshi's strain was. They could not be ignorant of the fact that someone could get hurt and would require the antidote.

And indeed, that had happened-both Anna and Yata had gotten injured.

"What should we do, Mikoto-san?" Fujishima asked from the front.

"Wait for Izumo," he answered as he slid in closer to Anna.

She turned her head slightly to look at him.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyelids lowered slightly with a dazed look in those red tinted orbs. Truthfully, Anna looked like a woman who was being teased and tortured with pleasure by her lover.

A woman who was almost drunk on lust.

But Mikoto had to rid himself off those thoughts. He told himself that the way she looked had nothing to do with the human need to be touched and caressed by a sexual partner, but that it was simply the effects of the poison on her.

Right now, he had to take care of Anna and made sure the antidote got into her system.

Ironically, he had to do so using a method that lovers would use.

"Mikoto?" she voiced his name after taking in a heavy breath.

"Come here," he said softly and caught her by the waist in order to gather her slender body against his.

Although Anna had control over her senses again due to Mikoto's removal of some of the poison, her body was weak and it was sweltering inside this vehicle. After Mikoto and Izumo had exited, the car had cooled down once more but _she_ had not.

With Mikoto here again, she was going to start sweating once more, especially if he pressed that well-defined, naked torso of his against her.

Anna watched as Mikoto lowered his head to hers. She assumed that he might probably give her a little affectionate peck.

But that was not the case.

Her beloved king covered her mouth with his.

Anna was so stunned that she attempted to move back. However, he pressed his hand into her thick mass of white hair and held her into place.

Once more, she felt his firm mouth covering hers but she did not understand, especially when she felt his tongue flick softly along the plump flesh of her lower lip.

**_(A/N: If you don't want to read about some heavy kissing between Anna and Mikoto, stop reading now! You'll see another A/N for where it ends)_**

Her eyes widened in shock and she automatically tried to turn her head because she had become so confused!

Why was Mikoto doing this to her?

Did he truly want her, as she had come to suspect that he did? Did he need her as much as she felt that same need for him?

If so, why was it that she was not seeing that desire in his eyes?

Mikoto caught the back of her head and held her firmly in place.

"Open your mouth," he growled quietly as his eyes remained on her with a determined look in them. She could feel his warm breath and she could smell the tobacco from his cigarettes so close to her.

Anna immediately obeyed and her mouth parted ever so slightly.

Mikoto took that opportunity to slant his lips over hers and force her mouth open wider so that he could thrust his tongue inside and slide it against hers.

The shock of his actions made Anna release a soft whimper and in response, he slowly moved that oral organ of his against hers so hotly, almost sensually.

The white haired female did not understand what was happening. Why was Mikoto kissing her? And why was he giving her such an...an _adult_ kiss?

She could taste the tobacco now in his mouth, along with the bitter taste of the poison and the strong coffee he had must have drunken earlier.

Mikoto drew back slightly.

His golden eyes were watching her with a completely serious gleam, one which just added to her confusion. Why would he look at her like that? She could not see any of the desire she thought she picked up on previously. Wasn't one of the reasons why two people kissed because of the want and the need they felt for each other?

Mikoto moved again to press his mouth to hers but Anna immediately shut her lips and tried to turn away.

She did not understand this. Why was he kissing her?

However, Mikoto held her in place.

"Listen to me," he ordered softly, "the poison is already in your bloodstream but the antidote is developing in me. I'll explain more later but the only way to transfer the antidote from me to you is from my tongue to yours. Do you understand?"

Anna could barely comprehend his words before his tongue was shoved into her mouth again and she made a soft gasp.

Hot, _he_ was so hot_..._like a burning flame.

Her nails dug into the skin of his shoulders as his mouth forcefully took hers. Mikoto showed no reaction to it.

She let out a soft little whimper. His arms went around her now, holding her to him so that she could feel the muscles of his athletic body. His chest was hard and smooth, just as she expected his naked flesh to be.

Mikoto's jacket had fallen from her chest and to her lap due to his movements against her. This meant that her own naked torso was pressed against his. It was a different kind of feel to have skin to skin contact without the barrier of clothes. There was more heat, more _feeling_.

* * *

Sweet, Anna tasted so sweet. Like strawberries and vanilla and everything delicious that a woman could be made of.

Mikoto was desperately fighting down his desire. At first, he was winning against that beast of lust. However, his own body could not ignore the softness of Anna's.

There was the way she would make small noises: a little cry, a little moan, a soft whimper that he knew was from either shock, or an igniting flame of arousal inside of her.

Anna was so a young, nubile female. Her body was sensitive.

There was no way she felt nothing when an experienced man like Mikoto was more or less exploiting her mouth with deep kisses under the guise of having to force something into her in order to combat a dangerous element into her body.

The more he kissed her, the more his control was starting to break even though he was trying to convince himself that this was not really 'kissing'; that this was passionless and simply a means of getting the antidote into Anna.

Yet, every bit of his being wanted to rip her clothes completely from her and just ravish her. It was indeed a formidable task to resist her when she felt so _good_ against him.

But he had to hold back.

That was a bloody difficult thing to do when he had to curl her tongue into his and glide it around almost teasingly in order to ensure that the antidote was being transferred to her.

He was thankful that right now, Eric and Fujishima were in the front seats. If they were alone, he did not know what would happen.

Mikoto noted the way Anna seemed shy of moving her tongue against his so he moved back slightly and flicked tongue along the seam of her wet lips. Tersely, he commanded, "Suck it,"

She knew what he was referring to and did as she was told when he pressed his that fleshy organ into her once more.

* * *

"Anna won't have many side effects. She will probably be very exhausted and will perhaps sleep for a bit longer than normal. Did she eat well today?" Natsume questioned Izumo.

"She did," he confirmed.

"Excellent. Mikoto will probably have a high fever. That's the only troubling side effect for him. At least, it is the only one I've come across after testing the antidote."

"Will we have to take Anna to the hospital?"

"No. I will come in tomorrow to personally check on her and have a little chat but I think she should be fine. Feed her light dishes as well, will you? The poison was not enough to kill her but it did weaken her significantly. Heavy food might be a bit much for her."

Izumo nodded. "Okay. We'll take Anna home now. Contact me later and let me know how things went with the strain and Yata."

"I will," Natsume promised. Then she paused, glancing at the foggy windows of the car. "Keep an eye on those two."

"I will."

Izumo understood why she had said that: the wamrth created in the car was so much that it had caused the windows to grow foggy with steam. That heat was coming from Mikoto and that heat was very _unnatural_.

As Natsume left, Izumo rounded the car to take his seat at the back again.

As he was about to touch the handle to open the door, something slammed into the window.

Startled, he watched the ghostly appearance of the hand that had hit into the window slowly slide downward, leaving its imprint on the glass.

Izumo's mouth dropped open once more.

Then he paused and shut it again.

He blinked twice.

The tall man scratched the back of his head when he felt something niggling at his mind.

Hadn't he come across a similar scene before?

If he recalled correctly, in that movie _Titanic_, there was a part like that.

Izumo pondered on the reason for that scene.

He remembered something about the main pairing running off somewhere and getting into a car and then...

The bartender became mortified when he finally pieced together the details of that particular part of the movie!

He hurried around the other side and almost ripped the car door out in his haste to know whether or not Mikoto had lost control and was screwing Anna into oblivion.

To his relief, the King was simply kissing Anna deeply.

Izumo frowned. It was supposed to be an 'exchange of fluids' for the significant reason which was to save Anna's life. Yet, what Izumo was viewing seemed be something so erotic that it seemed like it could lead to something even more raunchy.

Mikoto had basically trapped Anna against the area where the car door closed shut by using his own body to prevent her from moving. One hand was on the backrest of the seat, right beside her head while the other was pressed just underneath the closed window.

So it was _Mikoto's_ hand which had more or less re-enacted that scene from that movie.

Mikoto's body was taunt. Since he had removed his t-shirt, one could plainly see the drops of sweat rolling down that hard, fit body of his.

His hand moved from the window now and went to her waist to hold Anna in place when she shifted.

His mouth angled over hers slowly and before he drew back slightly.

Izumo's face went red as he watched the way their tongues seemed to mate with their slippery movement.

Once more, Mikoto covered her mouth completely before releasing her and immediately turning his attention to that sensitive, wounded area on her neck.

"Ah!" Anna gasped and her hands went under his arms and onto his back, holding on tightly. Mikoto's tongue moved over that aching puncture in her skin, focusing there. Her nails almost dug into his skin because while the wound hurt, she felt pleasure from the way Mikoto seemed to be soothing her with his fleshy organ.

Meanwhile, Izumo slid into the heated car and poked his head between the two front seats.

Eric was huddled on the passenger side with his arms wrapped around his knees and his chin buried in it. He looked like a child who was beholding something totally and completely embarrassing.

Fujishima had a hand pressed to his forehead which he stroked a bit frustratedly. It was a bit odd to see him, whose expression was normally stoic, look rather unnerved.

His other hand was on the steering wheel and it seemed that he just wanted to get out of here.

"Want me to drive?" Izumo offered.

"Sure." Fujishima said in relief. He just wanted to get out of here!

"You'll have to sit in the back and keep an eye on these two."

The animal lover froze.

Keep and eye on those two making out in the back?

Where his King and his princess shoving their tongues down each others throats for supposedly important reason?

No thanks.

"I'll drive," Fujishima decided without hesitation and turned on the ignition.

As they pulled off, Izumo sent down the windows a tiny bit to get some cold air into the heated car. Even he was blushing when he heard Anna moan softly as Mikoto moved to her stomach again.

Those two were lost in their own world.

There was no way Izumo could leave them alone and expect nothing to happen.

Heck, they sounded like they were having sex right now with the soft groans Anna made and the occasional deep grunt and wet sucking noises from Mikoto.

Moreover, they were breathing deeply in short puffs of breath combined with occasional sighs from Anna!

They sounded like they were making hot, sexy love in the backseat of the car!

He had heard of things like sex pheromones and he was never quite certain as to whether there was scientific evidence to support its existence in humans, despite it being very apparent in other species such as insects.

However, the very air in this car seemed to ooze what one could call 'pheromones'. It was hot, it was heady it was almost _stimulating_.

And the reason for it was those two.

Izumo watched as Mikoto lifted his head to Anna's again, but this time, his pink tongue reached out to softly flick at her bruised lips as if apologizing for his harshness on her earlier. Anna's cheeks reddened more at his almost affectionate gesture. Yet, it in no way quelled the desire in her.

Her body was hot. Her breasts felt swollen and the centre of her body was throbbing.

Mikoto was not in better of a state for he was quite sure that someone could throw water on him and it would dissolve into steam.

As for Izumo, he knew that there was no exaggeration that those two could lose control of themselves if no one was around.

That meant that the bartender was going to have to spend the night at the bar.

Izumo, sick of this now and overly disturbed by how steamy the atmosphere had become, reached out and caught Mikoto's shoulder.

"Damn it, Mikoto. Isn't that enough now?"

He couldn't let it go on. Even if he wanted Anna married to Mikoto, he did not want them to get together simply because they lusted after each other.

Anna was only sixteen. He wanted her with Mikoto, but did not believe for one moment that an unmarried sixteen year old should have sex with anyone.

Especially Anna, who was his ward.

_**(A/N: Kissing ends here*********************)**_

* * *

Fushimi did not like being given the spotlight by anyone for any reason. He just liked getting a job done and getting it over with so that he could move on and do something more constructive (like heckling Yata).

However, here he was now standing in a circle with Yuki Natsume and Reisi Munakata while several other Blue Clansmen hovered behind their king, awaiting Fushimi's response.

They needed to know his version of things in order to sort out who would get custody of the strain. The clan the person who had delivered the finishing blow to a criminal strain was granted custody but because the strain had severely harmed Yata and to a large extent, Anna, the Red Clan also had jurisdiction.

It was also a judgement call on Fushimi as well to also declare who was to be the first to interrogate the strain. The Red Clan wanted him for answers concerning Takeshi's operations in Seneca. The Blue Clan wanted him in order to basically wanted to protect their pride as it was normally their responsibility to handle strains.

Fushimi muttered something under his breath before he said, "It's the Red Clan who should have custody,"

This erupted in an uproar among his clansmen. Fushimi could hear the sounds of demands amongst them of whether or not he still had loyalty to the Red King.

Reisi's eyes were serious behind his glasses.

"Is that so? Would you like to explain why?" his king asked.

Fushimi tsked.

"The finishing blow was delivered by Misaki Yata. When I attacked the strain, he was already on the ground."

"But you were attacked as well. We should be given some more jurisdiction."

"The last blow I made to the strain as a member of the Blue Clan makes that law void."

"How so?"

"Because the Protocol also makes a provision where anyone who attacks a strain who has already fallen violates some of his rights under the Protection Treaty because it's like kicking a man who is already down."

Munakata frowned. "You attacked in retaliation for two former comrades. You could have also bended the truth a little when you said that it was Misaki Yata who delivered the finishing blow. Do you really still have loyalty to them, Fushimi?"

Fushimi's eyes sharpened and he stated coldly, "No matter what clan they belong, Yata Misaki and Kushina Anna are still citizens of Shizume City who had gotten hurt because a strain unexpectedly approached them. If I am at fault attacking in retaliation to ensure their safety then I will gladly accept punishment,"

Everyone went silent.

Fushimi turned away now, adding, "I also thought honesty was a part of our moral code," That was his response to Munakata's suggestion that he could have 'bended the truth a little'.

The king nodded, understanding.

Then, he turned to Natsume.

"I think a compromise would be best, Natsume-san. When you interrogate the strain, we will be there as well to monitor your actions."

"That's quite fine, Munakata."

* * *

Yata groaned as the ambulance hit a bump on the road.

He was lying on his stomach and he felt exactly like what Fushimi had called him-a porcupine. It was not nice to have hundreds of needles sticking all through his back.

"What are you sticking me with now? Can't you see I already have enough needles in me?" Yata grumbled when he felt something jab his arm.

"I'm sorry, Yata-san. We're administering the antidote to you right now because we need it to start circulating your system as soon as possible so that it does not affect the anesthetic we'll putting you on," a female voice said.

"Anesthetic?" Yata repeated.

"Yes. We need to put you under it in order to alleviate the painful feeling of pulling these needles out of your back."

Yata was fearful of needles. He would admit that.

The only people he would jump in front of them for were his clansmen and Emi.

The skateboarder was quite sure based on what had just been told to him that needles had to hurt as much as coming out as they did going in.

Oh, this was not good!

* * *

**A/N: Yata is alive! I wouldn't kill him off!**

**Hope you enjoyed the infamous Titanic replay, only starring Anna and Mikoto instead!**

**Forgive the errors. It's after 3 where I am so I'll doublecheck later.**

**Let me know your thoughts on this chapter :)**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and thank you, all of you who follow, review and favorite this story. **

**For those who reviewed last time, thanks so much. It meant a lot to me. **

**_xTsukiyo no Marionette: He's alive! XD_  
**

**_Indochine: I won't drop it unless other things happen in my life that gets in the way of me updating. Thanks so much for your kind, motivating words :) I like Saruhiko as well. At first I hated him but when they gave more detail of his background, I felt really sorry for him. I have no problems with Reisi. I actually kind of pity him sometimes though...from the way he is in the short stories and dramas where it seems like no one wants to be his friend. Poor Munakata :( Lol. I want to bring in Seri, but I'm not really sure how or if to as yet because I want to write some extra chapters on what it would be like if she ended up with Munakata, and another on how it would be like if she ended up with Izumo, based on thow things ended with them in the prequel to this story. I think I mentioned this a while ago and I still haven't figured it out yet lol. Yeah, we all die in the end. It's sad but it happens. Even to our beloved pets. Hope your cat lives long and happily! I really do appreciate your words. Thanks again, and thanks for always reading. God bless :)_**

**_DBerryNia: I put in some more Mi-Sa-Ki for you! And I've kept Yata and Anna alive too :) _**

**_LadyCassie: I can't kill off Yata just like that! He's so useful when it comes to adding humor in the chapters! Anna still sees the world in black and white (unless it's red) but I go with the assumption that she can see her clansmen's faces, but she can also decipher the red of their powers. I know in the anime, with Mikoto, she would see him as completely red so I made it in one of the very early chapters of the prequel that she could see his face and body but in his chest area was where she could see the color of his red the most. I'm glad that you can think about Jessie and have such fond memories of her. Wow, Pepsi lived for a very long time! I do love animals quite a lot but I had a rabbit before and it was with him you could say I was happiest. He lived for six whole years. He died last year and I was more close to him because he was my rabbit, and not the family pet like our dog (although I love our dog to bits as well!). So when he died, it was like my own child died and I grieved for him for a long time. I just keep the comforting thought that he's with God now, and that's the most important thing to me :)_**

**_Maya095: There, there he'll be just fine :)_**

**_danihasacookie: I'm glad you were able to catch up and I'm happy that you think so well of the story and you loved all those moments! Thanks for your kind words and I don't mind if you can't review every chapter. If you are able to let me know whenever you can that you're still reading and your thoughts on how the story is going, I would appreciate that :)_**

**_AngelGirl0200: He's alive! Anna's alive! No one's died! XD _**

**_creativeactive: I've brought out some Blue clan for you, including Saruhiko :) I'll try to figure out a way to bring in Neko and the rest of the Silver Clan into the story. I'm not sure how I'll do it or when, but I'll come up with something (just hope I remember to lol)._**

**_xNightDreamerx: Because I love pulling all sorts of emotions from you (sorry, I know I'm a bit cruel)! Don't worry, Yata has not died! I can't have him killed;)_**

**_LadyIceCherry: I tried to update soon this time so the cliffhanger wouldn't be too much :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you now have a good sense of relief that Yata is still alive :)_**

**_XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: I think Mikoto should be about twenty-eight now but will turn twenty-nine in the the current year as it is currently January in the story and I think his birthday is some time in August. I believe Izumo is two years older than Mikoto so he would probably be around thirty. Hope this helps and that you're pleased Yata is still very much alive :)_**

**_Hodgeheg: *Pats on back* He's okay :)_**

**_nannerlovessnickers: I'm pleased that you were able to catch up! How was your being a counsellor?_**

**_princessforeveralone: Now you know what's happened to Misaki :) You have art homework? Art is so awesome! _**

**_LindyLinn: Yeah, he really does miss his friend. Poor Fushimi :/ Yata didn't die, and yes, Anna did get affected by the needles! But Mikoto was the remedy. I remember you said that you felt deprived of Anna/Mikoto kisses. I made up for it here :))) Hope you enjoyed those moments ;)_**

**Thanks again, and God bless :)**


	18. Fever

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**A/N: PLEASE READ! This entire chapter should be rated M. I will mark off the most explicit part, look out for the (*****************) which marks the beginning of the scene and another (*******************) which marks the end of it. Please use your discretion when reading because I won't be held accountable for what you choose to view. **_

_**Sorry for taking so long to update. I was actually working on this chapter the whole time. First part was easy. Second part was trickier. **_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 18: Fever**_

Mikoto opened his eyes to a new day. His head was hurting and his body had a lingering warmth on it that had not come from himself.

Slowly, he became more aware that the room was a different scent in the room.

A rather mild scent.

A _feminine_ scent.

And the only female Mikoto had been with last night was Anna!

Mikoto slapped a hand to his forehead, trying to figure out what exactly had happened but his mind was a blank slate.

Slowly, he got out of bed and went in search of his princess.

* * *

Anna scooped some miso soup out of the pot with a ladle and poured it into the white bowl. This would do her good for she felt like her body could not handle anything heavy like meat or flour.

She sensed a familiar presence behind her and glanced over her shoulder.

There was Mikoto standing in the doorway with a frown on his face. He was wearing on his black armless shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms.

His hair was messy from sleeping but even so, it in no way diminished the domineering presence he gave off not only as the Red King who had supernatural powers, but as a leader who earned respect wherever he went.

A respect he never asked for but still received.

Mikoto ran a hand through his hair as he stepped inside toward her.

Anna turned to face him completely.

"Good morning, Mikoto," she greeted him. Her eyes seemed to glow red almost warmly at the sight of him.

Mikoto lowered his hand as he came closer to her. He came to stand right in front of her and placed a hand on the counter beside her, trapping her as he leaned slightly over her.

Anna was taken aback by his strange movements but remained as she was and waited for him to speak.

"Did something happen?" Mikoto asked with a very serious expression on.

"When?"

"Last night."

"You had a fever," she answered.

Mikoto drew back and blinked.

"A fever?"

Anna nodded.

Mikoto cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

Then why the devil did he have some of her scent on him?!

Yet, somehow he could not detect whether or not she was lying to him.

That made him a bit suspicious.

He frowned more deeply and looked away from her as if thinking hard.

"Mikoto," Anna voiced his name.

He glanced at the pretty girl.

This morning she was wearing on a long sleeved red night dress with frilly edging. Her hair was loose and a little mussed from sleeping as well.

To Mikoto's surprise, she tiptoed and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"Hm?" he grunted in confusion at her little bit of affection.

"Thank you for taking care of me," she explained.

Anna could sound so formal sometimes!

In response he patted her head kindly and moved his hand to touch the collar of her clothing. He drew it back slightly to reveal the marred skin. Most of the blackness was gone but what was left seemed to be a reddish-purplish bruise.

"Does it hurt?" he questioned.

It ached.

But that was not because of the poison or the injury itself. It was from the way Mikoto had kept on sucking insistently on her skin, the way his tongue had moved wetly over the wound.

"Not anymore," she answered. After all, it throbbed but not in a painful way.

Mikoto touched his fingers lightly to her stomach where she had also been pierced by a needle.

"It's fine," she assured him.

"I see," he murmured and removed his hand.

But the skin there was probably more sensitive than along her neckline. Every throb sent a painfully pleasurable shock to her groin and it took all Anna had to hide this up from him.

Mikoto did not recall it, but she had made a promise to him last night. The reason why he did not remember was because he had forced her to seal his memory of what happened between them after they had come home.

* * *

_**A few hours ago:**_

Anna was like a weak kitten in his arms as Mikoto carried her up the stairs. Closely following behind was Izumo.

The poison was still working in her body. After letting Natsume know that Anna's body was still very lifeless, they had been advised that Mikoto should continue giving the antidote to her as he been doing before.

It had taken them less than five minutes to get to the bar. Most of the clansmen had gathered there, except for Dewa and Kamamoto. They had been sent to Seneca to keep an eye on Yata. As for the others, Izumo sent them home, reminding them that they all had regular day jobs the following morning. They had left with great reluctance for they were worried about Anna.

It was the first time in many months that they had her accompany them on an assignment and she ended up getting hurt!

They all felt very displeased about this and it made them feel like they failed both her and Yata. After all, both were their clansmen; their family. They believed they could have done more to protect them from harm.

They also blamed the Blue Clan for getting in their way. After all, Mikoto had cornered the strain until the Blue King decided to become all self-righteous and protect the teenage boy who had deadly powers.

Currently, their own King took their princess to his room. There, he carefully lowered her to the bed. Her clothing was still shredded at the top and he saw no point in having her keep it on.

Hence, he gripped the skirt that was still intact and pulled it down the light curves of her hips, her rounded backside her long, slender legs.

As her legs popped out of the dress and fell lifelessly onto the bed, Mikoto tossed the material to Izumo who caught it easily. The bartender looked down at the ruined clothing a bit sadly. They had this dress specially made for Anna, and the very day she wore on it, it got torn. Well, with the skirt still being undamaged meant that they could have another bodice made up again.

Anna's body was still overly lethargic. She watched as Mikoto placed a knee on the bed, beside her thigh.

She felt his warmth, his masculine scent wash over her as he hovered above her doll-like figure.

"Anna," he voiced her name.

She blinked up at him in response.

"Can you speak?"

She opened her mouth and managed a vague, "Yes,"

Mikoto looked over his shoulder at Izumo who nodded. This was a good sign. Her being able to talk a little now meant that the antidote was already working. However, they needed to get her to be able to move her body again.

Mikoto slid an arm under her, around her waist and pulled her upright. He caught the back of her fair head and threaded his fingers through her silky hair so that he could hold her in place and press his mouth over hers again.

Forcing her lips apart, he thrust between them and stroked her tongue slowly, almost sensually against his.

As for Izumo, he wanted so badly to look away, but he had been instructed to keep an eye on the pair of them.

Anna may not be able to move her body, but instinctively, she was moving her mouth against Mikoto's.

Izumo almost grumbled out loud that no matter what anyone said, this _was_ kissing!

And very carnal kissing too.

Anna felt the slow gliding of Mikoto's fleshy organ against hers. She returned the erotic rubbing of his tongue with her own, just as he had taught her to do. She sucked on him, tasting him and she felt a direct surge of lust into her lower stomach, making her let out a soft moan.

Mikoto drew back slightly with his forehead resting against hers. Their breaths came in short, hot pants while the room itself was heating up, making them sweat.

Anna's eyes were shut, her cheeks were flushed.

Mikoto's golden hues remained on her and the lust inside of him could not be hidden. He was holding Anna tightly against him so that she could feel every every line, every taut muscle of his lithe body.

His necklaces were pressing against her, just under neckline and the pendant was going to leave and imprint on her skin.

Mikoto was losing his sanity.

Slowly but surely he was losing it.

His mind was becoming cloudy. His skin was becoming hotter. If anything, he could swear that he had a fever.

As he moved to attack her neck now, he knew he would have to let her go and take a cold shower soon. If he didn't, he would lose control.

And he would taint and mark Anna repeatedly if he didn't stop soon.

Anna whimpered when she felt his tongue lashing hotly at the puncture wound before he pushed her onto the bed so that she fell on her back again.

He straddled her lower thighs with his powerful ones so that he could easily bend over her and give his attention to her sensitive stomach. One of his hands was fisted into the blankets beside her stomach while the other was flat on the bed, just under her arm.

It was like he was dominating her, and she was left to his mercy.

She found that the feeling was returning to her arms as she was able to thread her fingers into his red hair, uncertain about whether or not she wanted to hold him to her, or if she wanted to push him away.

It was like a combination of pain and pleasure to feel the way he worked that oral organ of his on her wounds. Even if it was for a purpose associated with healing her, there was no way she could ignore the strong arousal that had grown in her.

And Mikoto could sense it.

Like a beast he could pick up the fragrance of his mate in heat.

And like an animal he wanted to claim her as his own and not stop until he had her to himself, until she was crying out with pleasure and begging for more.

* * *

The poor soul who was sweating like a pig in the room was Izumo.

Here he was acting as chaperone to these two brats.

He could not see the expression of either of the two as Mikoto's back blocked them. However, he caught sight of Anna's hands in Mikoto's hair.

The antidote was working.

That meant Izumo could the hell out of here!

After breathing a sigh of relief, he stood up and walked past the bed. "I think that's enough now, Mikoto. She seems to be moving now so you can let her go...and have a cold shower," he suggested. The last part was said lightly, but he meant it.

Mikoto nodded and sat up before proceeding to flop down beside Anna.

Anna was breathing hard.

Her body was hot.

The room was hot.

And Mikoto was hot.

He threw an arm over his head.

"It's hot..." he muttered.

"Ah, that's one of the side effects. You're supposed to get a fever. Do you want me to bring you anything?" Izumo asked him.

Mikoto shook his head.

He was lying on his bed next to Anna wearing on only a pair of blue denim jeans with a black belt around his waist. Exposed was the hard muscles of his well defined chest.

Anna was in no better shape as she wore nothing on but her bright red undergarments. Her breasts were full and firm looking, her skin was creamy and smooth. She was slender and she had curves in all the right places.

Both had bodies men and women alike wept for.

If Izumo was to take a picture now, he was quite sure that it would fetch a high price from some romance magazine.

Anna seemed to be a bit dazed.

"Anna, can you hear me?"

She was slightly turned on the side with her head facing away from Mikoto. Her breathing had slowed but she was still wet with her own sweat.

She looked at Izumo from the corner of her eyes and gave a slight nod.

"Are you able to move?"

Another nod.

"Would you like me to get you anything?"

She shook her head.

"Alright. I'm going down for a minute. I'll be back to check on you two soon," he informed them before walking out.

Anna's body was feeling so weird. Every nerve of her body felt exposed and rubbed raw by Mikoto's touch on her smooth, soft skin.

The centre of her body was swollen and she almost whimpered at the overwhelming ache it caused her. She needed something...someone to _ease_ that ache.

Her sexual instincts which she barely understood was screaming for her to be touched, caressed and loved by Mikoto.

And did he feel the same way?

She suspected that he did sometimes, but she was unaware of how much so. Was he like this right now? Did he want her?

"Anna?" Mikoto said her name gruffly.

She turned her head to look at him.

"Can you move?" he questioned.

She gave a small nod and a soft noise of assertion.

Mikoto let out a loud sigh of relief and faced forward again.

"Good."

Anna decided to get up.

She needed to take a cold bath, to rid herself of these feelings that heat up her core.

However, as she moved to sit up, the room began to spin and she made a soft gasp as she fell flat on her back again.

Mikoto sat up.

"You're still weak," he muttered and leaned over her, covering her mouth with his again. She knew to open her mouth and accept him now.

His lips had a firm hold of over her swollen ones that were wet and bruised from his earlier administrations to them.

Her mouth probably tasted like his now, and would taste even more so like him if he continued stroking his tongue against hers again.

Abruptly, he released her and attached his attention to her neck once more.

The room had started to cool down, but the moment Mikoto started giving regard to her weakened body, it grew warmer again.

* * *

Izumo had meant to just have a glass of iced water before going back up. Yet, he was so tired! He had been working hard these last couple of days, then the issue with Anna's bounty hunting rose up and then Takeshi's strain and all the politics associated with Toshi's trial.

It had made Izumo lose sleep.

He needed to get some rest.

And unintentionally, he nodded off on the couch in the bar.

* * *

_**(*********************)**_

"No more," Anna now had to plea. The pale haired girl had to implore him because if he continued to give such attention to her body, she would lose control of herself.

She was on her back, her hands on either side of her head, curled slightly into fists. Her long, white hair was spilled behind her and she made quite a sight with her slender figure and shapely legs as she lay beneath Mikoto.

His hair was tickling her smooth stomach as his mouth seemed to almost feed upon that wound she had there.

Mikoto lifted his head from her and she noted that there was a dull flush of red along his cheeks.

He was feverish as Izumo had said he would be.

"Stop me," Mikoto said to her.

Anna did not understand.

However, Mikoto's hands went to her hips and gripped them hard. His tongue reached out and drew hotly over the skin above her belly button.

It trailed upward, lapping at a long bead of sweat that had rolled down her body.

Anna shivered in excitement.

Mikoto paused at the centre of her ribcage, just under the front clasp of her bra.

Anna watched the pair of golden eyes that burned into her own.

"Stop me," he ordered again as he lifted his head and covered her mouth again.

But this time, it did not feel like he was sharing an antidote with her.

It was not a harsh, forceful kiss that had the desperate feel of him attempting to ensure that the remedy got into her system.

No, this time it was gentler.

When his lips slanted over hers, his tongue lightly traced her bottom lip, as if asking for permission to enter.

Though surprised, she opened her mouth cautiously and almost caressingly, his fleshy organ moved over hers.

Anna did not know how long they remained like that, only that she was able to lift her arms and hold onto his naked shoulders tightly.

The pendant of his necklace fell onto the cleavage caused by her firm breasts.

Slowly, Mikoto removed his mouth.

A gleam came to his yellow orbs as he growled, "Damn it Anna, stop me now. Tell me 'no',"

Anna was understanding what he was saying.

He wanted her.

But he didn't _want_ to want to her.

He needed her to stop him.

If she said no, then he would not do anything to her because he would never force her to do anything against her will.

The problem was, she _couldn't_ say no.

Her body was strung to tightly now, too worked up too damned hot for him now.

"I can't," she told him now.

Anna's face remained neutral but her eyes did not. They revealed the desire she had for him and that just made things all the more difficult for him.

And that was when Mikoto's sense of authority over himself snapped in two.

He forgot all his reasoning for being hands off from his precious princess.

Slowly, almost dangerously, Mikoto curled a hand around her slender neck as his eyes bore down on her.

"You can't?" he repeated softly. She could almost hear an underlying warning in his tone.

Anna swallowed hard. Under different circumstances, she might have become ashamed and turned away.

But she could see raw wanting in his eyes and she became aware that Mikoto was not going to hold back anymore with her. He was going to unleash himself upon her, and show her _exactly_ what not stopping him was going to do to her.

And did this frighten her in any kind of way?

In a way, yes.

But to a larger extent, she was more excited and almost breathless with anticipation.

"I can't," she affirmed softly.

Mikoto let out a quiet breath and lowered his head once more.

Taking her mouth against his, he gave a brief but sensuous kiss before drawing back and saying, "I see."

Anna blinked at his words.

Was that all he was going to say?

Without warning, he pressed his mouth against hers again, ravishing it greedily. Anna managed to raise her hands and tentatively move them over his shoulders and around his neck. She could sense the tension in his body.

Understanding now that he wanted her as much as she wanted him just seemed to make her insides melt even more.

Mikoto abruptly broke the kiss and moved one hand caressingly over the sensitive skin of her stomach. He gazed down at her pretty face and observed the way her eyes were wide with curiousity, darkened not only with her own lust, but reflected the red hue of his own body as its rouge color changed according to his mood.

Her mouth was swollen, red and wet from his kisses. He was quite sure her lips were very tender now from the way he had taken that sweet mouth against his.

Her cheeks were slightly colored and she was bathed in the sweat caused by the heat his body was exuding.

There was passion in her blood right now, and she wanted _him_.

There was no way Mikoto could stop himself now.

The only person who could stop him was Anna but she was burning too much right now.

Burning for _him_.

Didn't that just make things so much more difficult for him to end this lustful insanity?

And yet so much more easier for him to break that moral code he upheld with himself for her sake.

Mikoto cursed and kissed her deeply. She moaned against his mouth and gripped his biceps hard. When he released her, he began to press his lips softly against her cheek, moving downward to her chin. He nuzzled her neck and gave the wound there a gentle nudge before he reached her chest.

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of one firm globe and came to settle between her cleavage.

Mikoto's observed as it did so, he watched the mark of moisture on that pure white skin.

This smooth, clean flesh that he was going to mark and taint.

He lowered his mouth to her body again and Anna felt as though a shock of electricity ran through her as he used his tongue to trace the path of the trail of sweat.

Gently, he stroked his appendage between her breasts, flicking his tongue at the droplet that had settled there.

Anna bit back a soft gasp by biting her lip and closing her eyes for those mounds of flesh just seemed to swell although he had not even touched her there properly yet.

She watched as Mikoto drew up, leaning on his hands as he watched her.

She was surrounded by his warmth, this undeniable heat of his. She saw passion in his eyes, an incredible burning fire.

His face serious, but she was aware that right now, he was restraining himself greatly.

She could sense the tension of his body that came with attempting to tame himself into taking things slowly with her.

He had already broken his own rules to not touch her in a sexual manner. Now, he needed be careful or he could hurt her for she was inexperienced.

And yet, that inexperience of hers just seemed to add to his lust.

The knowledge that this quivering flesh beneath him, this young, nubile form had yet to be written, to be marked by a man just aroused him more. This meant that he could take her, teach her, tame her and condition her body to respond only to him.

And he wanted to do that, didn't he?

He wanted to monopolize her body and heart.

She was _his_ princess.

He wanted to be her only lover.

He was a possessive and protective man and wanted Anna for himself.

Without warning, Mikoto suddenly caught one of her shoulders and pushed her to lie on her stomach. If he kept looking at the front of her beautiful figure, he might lose it again.

Not that her back was any easier for him to handle.

Anna could feel his denims abrading the sides of her thighs as he straddled her. Yet, she did not mind.

She wanted him to touch her more but she was uncertain of how to ask.

Finally, he placed his opened palm at the base of her spin, right where her lower back dipped before coming up to her gently rounded backside.

His hand was heated on her skin and she shivered when he lifted it slightly and allowed it run along her sensitive spinal cord with agonizing slowness.

He paused somewhere in the middle and lowered his head, flicking his tongue out to taste yet another drop of sweat from her body, bathing her soft skin with his wet appendage.

Then, he opened his mouth and she felt his teeth.

Anna squirmed at the strange feelings that rose up in her but Mikoto gripped her small waist, holding her in place as he continued to suck insistently upon her skin, breaking it and leaving behind a throbbing mark.

Mikoto released her flesh and she felt his hot breath on her now. His hands began to stroke the sides of her body slowly now.

To her surprise he admitted in a rather husky tone, "I knew you wanted me. I could see it in your eyes every time we got too close,"

Anna let out a soft gasp.

All this time, he knew?!

Mikoto slowly kissed upward her back now until he reached her neck where nuzzled the side which was not harmed before moving to her ear now so that he could nibble that tender lobe.

His body was pressing flush against hers now and the belt buckle of his jeans was pressing into her skin, almost bruisingly.

"The difficult thing was that I wanted you too."

Anna's eyes widened as he confirmed her suspicions.

She let out a soft sound as his sharp teeth made an unexpectedly hard nip at her before he softly kissed the throbbing lobe. He pulled her upward so that he was kneeling behind her, with her in front of him.

One of his thighs was intimately pressed against her own, just as it had been the other night in Seneca.

Only right now, her body was more heated than it had been that night.

Between her legs was swollen, aching.

_Throbbing_.

"You're hot," Mikoto whispered as he licked the bead of sweat at her temple.

She was panting now and wanted to move, but Mikoto held her tightly against him so that she could not go anywhere.

"So innocent," he continued as he sweetly kissed the side of her forehead now. He said this because she did not know that the 'hotness' he was referring to was the blazing furnace between her legs that he could feel even through his jeans.

He was aware that she was quivering there for him.

He could feel her pulsing against him.

"You don't even know," he added as he leaned her forward slightly so that he give his attention to the nape of her neck.

"I...don't...know?" she repeated breathlessly.

One of Mikoto's hands on her waist moved. He used the fingers of that hand to lightly touch the plump flesh of her lower lip.

"You barely even understand what you're feeling," her king explained as he pressed slowly kisses along her shoulder.

Suddenly, she felt his mood change.

It seemed to have grown darker, almost angrier and without warning, he moved right leg over his so that she was splayed across his lap. He pulled her upward.

She gasped as she felt him hold her by the waist between his large, strong hands, and settle her onto what felt like a ridge of hard muscle.

That heated area between her thighs was fitted intimately against him and she soon realized that this hardness was his manhood.

Mikoto pressed her down a with a little more force and reached up and grasped her chin in one hand. He forced her head against his chest so that he could lean down and growl lowly, "Do you feel that? That's how much I want you,"

Anna response was a whimper.

She wanted to move her hips against that place of his, for she instinctively knew the friction would help ease the ache.

Or increase it.

Anna wanted to speak again, but Mikoto pressed his index and middle fingers into her mouth.

"Suck," he ordered and she obeyed, taking his warm fingers into her and touching them with her pink tongue. Although it was a simple action, it felt unbelievably erotic to be able to taste his long fingers in her mouth, to run her tongue along them, to nip at them with her teeth and suckle them.

Mikoto's other hand was on her lower stomach now, just over the top elastic band of her red panties.

Anna heard Mikoto let out short, quiet chuckle behind her. She didn't understand why he seemed amused, or what he meant even when he said, "You're ready,"

He had barely touched and caressed her. In fact, he hadn't even touched her _there_.

Yet he caught the thick scent of her arousal.

And it smelled especially _sweet_.

Anna was so sensitive to his slow fondling and it just made him want her more.

The alabaster haired girl stiffened.

She did not understand what that meant although she could feel a strange sticky moisture down _there_.

"Your body is preparing you for me," Mikoto explained to her. Anna remembered her ethics lessons which also incorporated sex education. She hadn't thought the time would come when she would be experiencing the very things she had learned about.

He removed his fingers from her mouth, which were wet from her administrations. He pressed that hand to the upper part of her flat stomach and slowly trailed the wetness downward, making her shiver with want.

It did not feel like enough.

She wanted _more_.

"This wasn't supposed to happen..._yet_," her King spoke.

"Yet?" Anna repeated in surprise.

His fingers paused at her bellybutton and he shifted beneath her, making her gasp at the feel of his pulsing hardness.

"Do you feel this?" he demanded.

Her response was a whimper.

For that, he caught her hips between his large hands and moved her over him again while nipping at the flesh of her shoulder.

"Answer me," he growled.

"Yes!" she almost sobbed out.

"I couldn't fight this forever. I needed you to grow up a bit more."

Anna moaned softly, so sweetly, it was like music to his ears that only fueled his lust.

He was going to claim Anna for himself tonight.

He was going to caress her sweet body and he was going to pleasure her until she begged him for more, and _more_.

Thinking about it just made his blood burn more and he began to slowly move himself against that hot flesh between her thighs. The only barrier between them was his jeans and her underwear but even so, they could feel the scorching heat created between them, spurred on by the lust they had for each other.

Anna let out a little moan, or an occasional sigh with each movement for she felt something pleasurable building up in her.

"You didn't stop me," Mikoto reminded her softly before taking her earlobe into his mouth again as he deliberately stroked her with his body, causing that passion in them both to build.

Anna felt it, but she did not understand it.

Abruptly, something seemed to just burst inside of her.

She couldn't hold in the loud gasp when it happened which coincided with a small grunt from Mikoto.

It was like an explosion of stars that left her momentarily dazed.

Anna collapsed against the lean wall of Mikoto's chest, panting. She could feel his ribcage moving rapidly as he himself was breathing hard.

Mikoto was still hot and throbbing beneath her while between her body felt boneless and weary. She didn't understand too well what had happened but she did have an idea about what it was.

Anna paused when she sensed something was wrong.

Her King's skin was too hot.

Before she could turn to him, Mikoto suddenly fell on his side, taking her with him.

Shivering with shock, Anna turned around to look at him and was surprised to see that he had fallen into a deep sleep due to the fever caused by the antidote.

**(**********************)**

* * *

Anna felt herself being shifted, her arms being raised. She murmured in her sleep before her eyes fluttered open.

She blinked twice at Mikoto's handsome figure leaning over her.

She sat up when she felt that there was a strange article of clothing on her. Although she felt a bit dizzy, she managed to not fall backward.

Glancing down at herself, she saw that Mikoto had pulled on a black t-shirt on her.

She turned her attention to him again.

His face was serious.

She must have fallen asleep after the momentary sated phase she had entered after the climax she had with Mikoto.

She blinked a few times in an attempt to clear her head. She paused when she saw him, noting that he smelled clean and fresh as if he had just showered. His hair was still damp and his body seemed cool.

Much cooler than earlier.

And suddenly, all the images returned to her of what had happened before they both fell asleep. Her face went completely red and she grabbed his blanket, pulling it over her head and hiding herself from him.

She just wanted to curl up into a ball of shame and died.

Mikoto...he had...and she had...and..._and_...!

And he looked so damned _unaffected_.

She couldn't even catch a trace of his earlier desire for her in his eyes anymore. It was like his sense of reasoning had come back with full force.

Mikoto reached down and easily peeled the blanket from her.

"Anna, look at me," he ordered.

She turned her head and obeyed.

Mikoto released a heavy sigh when she did so and picked up the pack of cigarettes on his nightstand. He pulled one out and lit it with his thumb, using his power as he leaned forward with one arm over one knee while the other focused on the cigarette.

He took a long drag from the cancerous stick before he told her in a gruff tone, "We need to talk,"

Anna made a soft sound of agreement and sat up on the bed, leaning against the wooden frame as she gazed at his handsome form.

Just how long ago was it when he had held her against his body, pressed her against him and made her feel raw and naked?

That mouth on his cigarette had been pressed against hers. He had forced her to lean against his hard body as he had rocked her against him intimately.

His breath, words, his very being had been so _hot_.

And this heat had ignited a flame of passion inside of her.

"Don't look at me like that," ordered in an angry voice and all that warmth inside of her disappeared. His words shook her, his tone made her feel uncertain and upset.

She swallowed hard as her eyes grew wider and she trembled slightly.

He was angry and that vexation seemed to be targeted toward her.

Anna pulled the cover over her head again, hiding herself from him.

She was hurt because he was making her feel ashamed of herself.

Wasn't this one of her greatest fears? That he would become disgusted with her passion for him? Did he blame her for everything?

She heard Mikoto curse and tug at the blanket from her figure but she gripped it tightly.

Mikoto could easily rip it from her body, but he did not want to frighten her more.

Gently, he placed a hand on her back and lowered his head to where spotted hers was under the sheets. He pressed his forehead against hers.

"Anna, I'm not mad at you. Look at me."

He moved back when she drew the sheets down slightly so that she could peek up at his handsome face.

"Mikoto isn't?" she asked softly.

"I'm not," he assured her.

She pulled the blanket lower so that her face was revealed.

Mikoto sighed and ran his cigarette-free hand through his hair in frustration.

"When you look at me like that, it makes me want to do things to you. Bad things."

Anna blinked.

"Bad things?" she repeated.

Mikoto let out a breath.

"You know what I'm talking about, Anna."

"You mean what happened earlier?"

He nodded.

Anna sat up again and tilted her head to the side.

"That wasn't bad."

Mikoto almost snorted at her naivete.

He reached across and pressed his thumb to the tender flesh of her lower lip that was swollen and red from his earlier attention.

One might think that he might want to move and leave her alone.

But he didn't.

He just wanted her more.

Anna sensed a change in Mikoto where there was like a shift from gentle warmth to incredible heat. He moved his hand and pressed it against the bed-frame. He lowered his head to hers and gently took her lower lip between his teeth.

He tugged lightly and Anna whimpered at the sharpness of his canines.

It was like a combination of pleasure and pain and that went straight to the center of her body.

"Bad things like that," Mikoto told her in a low voice after he released her flesh.

He kissed her chin next and moved back.

He had to stop.

"That and more," he continued.

"You mean like when you made me-"

"Orgasm," Mikoto put in as he took another pull of his cigarette. His eyes flicked to hers, "We both did."

There were other words Mikoto could have used to describe it, more slang terms but he knew he had to use the proper names of such things in order for Anna to understand what he was talking about.

Anna swallowed hard.

Akemi had a wide assortment of not only perverted mangas, but perverted novels as well. When characters 'orgasmed' in these mangas and stories, they were always graphically portrayed. Anna wondered if she had looked as lewd as they did.

However, to hear words from Mikoto's mouth like 'orgasm' made her blush.

Remembering what had happened was making her grow aroused all over again.

Such feelings she had mirrored Mikoto's own.

But he couldn't lose his control again. He had to hold on and not snap.

Therefore, no more lip biting.

It disturbed him that the woman he had just embraced was Anna-little Anna who he had taken care of like family.

Yet, another part of him was accepting that she was not little Anna anymore.

She was older now.

She was a young woman.

But to him, not yet quite the grown up lady.

"What happened earlier shouldn't have occurred," he told her.

Anna's eyes lowered sadly. For some reason, she wasn't really surprised at his words.

"I see," she whispered.

Mikoto was rejecting her.

At least that was what it seemed like.

However, he reached across and pinched her cheek.

"Don't look so down, brat. I meant that it shouldn't have happened yet," on a softer tone, he added, "not when you're only sixteen."

Anna didn't even remember to whimper as he gripped her flesh. She was astonished at his words but she did recall him saying something like that earlier.

And that he had confirmed his desire for her.

"Was Mikoto...waiting for me to grow up?" she questioned cautiously.

Mikoto shrugged. "I was waiting to see what would happen to you when you got older."

"You were waiting to see if I would stay here at the bar or go elsewhere. If I would fall in love with someone other than you," Anna remarked, hitting dead on the spot.

Mikoto sighed.

"I guess it was something like that."

"How long..." Anna's voice hesitated as it trailed off. Then, she found the courage to continue, "how long has Mikoto...felt like this for me?"

The Red King gave a lopsided frown. Reluctantly, he replied, "Since you came home last Summer looking like you could model for a glamour magazine."

This surprised her. Summer was several months ago, when she was still fifteen.

She was starting to understand that Mikoto had probably become disgusted with himself for wanting a fifteen year old girl, even if she did look like a fully grown adult.

"I'm sixteen now," she pointed out slowly.

"And it's a crime in this City for a twenty-nine year old to touch a sixteen year old the way I did to you."

"Mikoto never cared for the law," Anna pointed out.

Mikoto looked at her now with blazing eyes.

"I care for you."

Her eyebrows drew up slightly in surprise. She always knew that Mikoto did care for her deeply, but he had never admitted it.

Now, he did.

Even if she had always been aware of this, hearing him actually say it made her cheeks redden slightly. His words, simple as they were, did make her feel happy. However, she could not dwell on this too much. They needed to address their current situation.

Anna hesitated before she spoke again, "But it's said that with my strain type, I could be considered an adult because I have the physical and emotional maturity,"

"That's just a theory yet to be proven, Anna."

"I'm old enough in Japan to get married."

"And I'm not tying you to me when you're only sixteen," Mikoto countered. He supposed that the right thing to do would be to marry her since they lusted so much for each other (and because Izumo would forget Mikoto was king and probably poison him for touching his unwed ward in an inappropriate manner), but he did not think Anna should be anyone's wife yet.

She fell silent.

Mikoto sensed that her mood had become despondent at his words.

Who could blame her?

After everything that had happened, after the long time she had spent wanting him which culminated into the incident tonight would have given her hope for something more. Now, he was crushing that hope to bits and tossing it aside.

Mikoto knew he was stepping on shaky ground here, especially because this was a female's feelings he was dealing with.

And he was awful at dealing with emotions and women because he thought those two things were bothersome.

Still, Anna tended to be the only exception in such cases.

For she was different from all the others and she was _his_ princess.

And he had been the cause of what had happened tonight. After all, Anna was young and naive whereas he was older and more experienced.

In other words, he shouldn't have given in like some randy boy.

"I might have been ready," Anna murmured.

"You're not ready for that or the consequences," Mikoto said.

The princess's mouth twisted ever so slightly. Mikoto knew he was upsetting her.

Suppressing another sigh, he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. Although his expression was grave, his eyes were stern, yet gentle as he asked quietly, "Would you have been ready to have my child?"

Anna stiffened and stared at him.

Mikoto removed his hand and used it to draw his cigarette from his mouth in order to release a stream of smoke.

"Neither of us had protection tonight," he continued.

Because Mikoto had been celibate for years while Anna was not sexually active. There was no purpose for either to have any sort of contraceptives.

In this regard, he was telling her that she could have conceived his child.

Even if it had been one time, Anna knew that it was undeniable that she could have easily gotten pregnant. The last time she had gone for a check up with Natsume, she had been told that although she still had a difficult time with her menstrual cycle, she could still easily fall pregnant.

Anna was so stunned by his words that she was unable to respond until Mikoto took her chin between his fingers again, forcing her to look at him.

"Would you, Anna? Would you have been prepared to have my child?"

Anna swallowed hard before replying, "If I did...I would have had the baby, I would have taken care of it."

"Oh? The only kid you've held is Chitose's son. You don't know anything about parenting," Mikoto pointed out.

Anna lowered her eyes. "I would have learned for the sake of my child."

Mikoto huffed and drew his hand away from her.

"Didn't they teach you health risks of teenage pregnancy in school?" he queried.

Anna fell silent. She was aware of them, actually.

"You don't even take proper care of yourself and your health is bad. You're anemic, you don't eat enough and you're lacking a lot of things in your diet."

Even if what he was saying was true, and even if he was right in implying that it would kind of ridiculous for her to care for a baby when she couldn't even take care of herself, it did not mean Anna _liked_ hearing it.

"Mikoto lacks vegetables," she pointed out.

Anna let out a quiet gasp when Mikoto's hand slammed into the bed-frame beside her head. His expression remained blank as he lowered his head to hers so that the tip of their noses were less than a millimeter away from touching.

"I'm not the one who would have had a little alien growing inside of me," Mikoto reminded her in an almost mencacing manner.

Anna nodded automatically. Mikoto's temper had just spiked.

That was not a good thing.

However, he was very correct in what he was saying to her.

She was also aware that these negative issues with her own physical health would have increased her chances of having a premature child.

"Would Mikoto have asked me to get rid off it?" she asked tentatively.

Mikoto was aware that he was sounding a bit cold with her, but he needed her to understand that there were consequences to having sex, especially unprotected as that was what had nearly happened between them earlier.

He lifted his hand and placed it gently on top of her head.

"If you wanted to have it, I wouldn't have stopped you. I'm not saying I wouldn't be there for you but a child is not a burden a sixteen year old girl who hasn't even graduated from High School should have to bear."

Anna nodded. That did make a lot of sense.

Realistically speaking, she did not want to be a teenage mother and she should not risk becoming one.

Mikoto was quiet as smoked his cigarette again. Anna kept silent because she was aware that he would speak again soon.

"Do you know the difference between animals and humans, Anna?" he queried as he dropped the cigarette into the ashtray on top his nightstand.

She wasn't sure about what to reply. Before she could, however, he did.

"Instincts. Animals act on instincts for instant gratification. When they want to eat, they hunt for their food. Humans deny themselves and stifle their instincts if they feel the situation isn't appropriate. Unlike animals: when they want sex, they seek out a mate and f**k the life out of each other to reproduce."

Anna's eyes widened slightly. It was the first time Mikoto had used an explicit word when speaking to her.

He had never done so before because when she was a child, he was mindful that she was young and impressionable. The habit to be careful with his words around her had stuck over the years.

Now, it seemed that he finally broke that practice.

Perhaps that showed that he was now starting to accept how much she had truly grown.

"Humans are not like that. They're built in to have a certain level of respect and love for each other that differs from the animal kingdom. That's why we don't have sex just to have off-spring."

Anna made a soft noise of agreement.

Observing her for a moment, he asked, "Do you know why I avoided you Anna? The other clansmen had a shitty reason for doing it but it was similar to mine."

"Because I grew up?" Anna questioned.

Mikoto snorted as he lit another cigarette. In a rather bitter tone, he agreed, "Exactly. I stayed away from you because I'm not a disgusting pig like that bastard Iwao."

Iwao had gone after a young girl because he couldn't help himself. He had acted like a dog in heat.

That was Mikoto's way of saying that he was a red blooded man and he was not blind to her growth but he would not become an animal with her just to satisfy his own selfish needs.

Anna blinked.

Mikoto sighed. "I drank myself blind for days after New Year's," he confessed.

Anna's mouth formed into a straight line. The reason for Mikoto drinking too much was normally because there was a lot of turmoil inside of him. Anna understood he would consume so much alcohol for the sake of numbing his feelings, but that was not necessarily a good thing or a decent solution.

Over the years, he had managed to stop turning to alcohol.

So why had he done so recently?

"I tasted you, and I felt your body that made me just want more of you," Mikoto informed her. His voice was full of anger, but it was self-directed.

The girl was shocked.

"You drank...because of me?" she whispered.

Mikoto turned his face to hers now and he gave a slight nod.

"You're not a little a girl anymore."

Anna did not need for him to elaborate on this. She understood what he meant: she was older now but he had so many memories of her, taking care of her and protecting her. For him, it was like one minute she was a child who was a little adult inside.

In the next minute, she was suddenly a fully grown person, both inside and out.

In his eyes, he had treated her like family, and now it seemed so wrong for him to start treating her like a sexual object. In his own way, he felt as though he was taking advantage of her.

Reasonably, he probably was not exploiting as he seemed to think. Despite this, he would not act on something he was not comfortable with, no matter how much he wanted it because this involved his precious Anna.

He insisted on her staying in Seneca for many reasons, but she came to realize that one of those reasons was because he wanted her to grow up a bit away from him so that she would loosen her attachment on him and find her own way in life.

Unfortunately, she had done the opposite as she had clung to him more and grieved for him for all the moments she was away from him.

While Mikoto was finally acknowledging that she was not a child anymore, and that she was definitely an adult, he still did not believe her old enough to get into a sexual relationship with him.

"Giving into lust shouldn't always be the answer, Anna."

Silence lingered for a moment until Anna spoke.

"What will we do now?" she asked him quietly. "I cannot forget what happened."

"But I can," Mikoto said to her.

Anna's eyes shot to his.

"Mikoto?"

"You have the power to seal away the memory of what happened had happened between us so that I would temporarily forget it."

Before she could protest, Mikoto lowered his head and gave her a very gentle kiss. He moved back slightly and told her, "I'm giving you the responsibility,"

Before she question what he meant and how was sealing his memory supposed to help them, Mikoto lowered shifted his head and began to nuzzle the side of her forehead, casting a drowsy spell over her.

* * *

Anna opened her eyes to a familiar sight: Shizume City in ruins.

She looked around for Mikoto. To her shock, standing a short distance away was Mikoto. He was wearing on nothing but a pair of blue jeans that was unbuckled, revealing a set of black briefs. His body sleek with moisture as it seemed that he had become overheated.

His torso was chiseled as she remembered it to be and she wanting to do nothing more than run her hands along his abs, to feel them, touch them and relish that heat he gave off.

One side of his handsome mouth curled upward into a smirk, making him look rather...sexy.

"Come here," he ordered softly.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry for the little cliffhanger. The chapter could have gone on longer, but then I would have had to delay posting up for another couple of days. In the next chapter I'll explain why Mikoto wants to seal his memory of what happened. **_

_**Mikoto didn't plan on fighting himself forever to stay away from Anna, he was just waiting for her to get a little older :)**_

_****For those underaged who listened to me and did not read the explicit part of the chapter, in case you're wondering, Anna and Mikoto did NOT have sex.**_

_*****I don't like the idea of writing lemons, but if there must be some sort of sexual interaction, I will try to make them as sensual possible. **_

_******Iwao was the bad guy from the second half of the prequel. **_

_******I'm not sure as to how I will be updating for the next couple of days because I have an exam (a combination of history, politics and economics all on one paper!). If I am taking long to update, please forgive me.**_

_**Also, thank you all of you who favorite, follow and reviewed the story.**_

_**Thanks so much for the nice reviews on the last chapter, I'm pleased you all enjoyed it :)**_

**Hodgeheg: I won't kill him off. I love him too much and I know nearly everyone else does as well :)**

**DBerryNia: I'm pleased you enjoyed the parts, as well as the Mi-sa-kii there as well :)**

**Indochine: You probably think me even more cruel after this chapter :p I'm pleased you enjoyed the last chapter and hope you enjoyed the sultriness of this one as well ;) I'm also glad you liked the Titanic replay. I don't mind the short review, I'm just glad to hear from you. Do you have a special greeting to say to each other on National Day in your country?**

**LadyCassie: Hope you enjoyed this chapter too for the extra kissing and...other stuff ;) Thank you for your kind words regarding my rabbit. I appreciate them. I'm sure your dogs loved you quite a lot as well because just as you said, animals know when they're loved and from the way you speak about them I can tell that you truly do :)**

**xTsukiyo no Marionette: I'm glad you loved it :)**

**creativeactive: I think they might have very much wanted to leave but couldn't because they were in charge of the car! :)**

**Flower 117: For chapter 14: I'm really glad you enjoyed that particular part! For chapter 17: It was tempting to kill him off but it just wouldn't seem like Homra without him. I love him too much! Was your 'pervert' side pleased with this chapter too :p I'm really not quite sure how many more chapters again. I don't want the story to drag on too much but there's a lot of stuff I want to write in. Maybe when I reach chapter 30? That's an average. It could be more or it could be less, depending on how long I make the chapters. If people are still interested, I would do one more sequel to this story but it would be more drabble than having a serious plot. Oh, I am really sad that the manga for K is ending. I did get a lot of inspiration from it! From what I understand, when the next chapter comes out, they're going to make some big announcement. I wonder what it is?**

**Arius the Heretic: Oh, that does sound tough! Three tests a week and then midterms. That does not sound pleasant. But best of luck with them all! I'm pleased to hear from you again. If Misaki is your second fav character, who is your first? I'm glad you enjoyed the parts with Anna in Mikoto in the last chapter, and hope you enjoyed them in this one as well :)**

**CheshireLovesSebbyXCiel: Aw, I love you too! XD**

**LindyLinn: Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well for the same reason why you enjoyed the last one ;)**

**AngelGirl0200: Hahahaha no preggo...yet ;) I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much! It did come out a bit sooner than normal because I left a really big cliffhanger and I don't like leaving cliffhangers on for too long. Sorry for the long time updating, but I did spend it working on this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it :)**

**nannerlovessnickers: Being able to care for others is a big responsibility and it definitely does change and mature you in good ways. I'm glad you had a great time :) I'm also happy you enjoyed the last chapter. Hope you were pleased with this one as well :)**

**xNightDreamerx: I'm glad I was able to make you laugh so much, and that you enjoyed the steaminess of the chapter :) Lol yes, poor Eric and Fujishima :/ I actually haven't look at much stuff on Psycho-Pass quite yet. Perhaps I will in time. Thanks for the info. PS: Does the main guy, (Shinya I think is his name) live or die? From what I read about him when I was looking up stuff on Psycho-Pass, he seems to be going down a tragic line. I haven't really looked up much, so I could be wrong.**

**kuronekousako: Thank you for your kind words and it does please me that you enjoyed this story so much! It's alright if you don't review every time, but whenever you can to just let me know that you're still enjoying the story :) Did you enjoy the kissing in this chapter as well?**

**princessforeveralone: Well, it was just kissing-although it was graphic-and you're in High School. I think that should be alright. However, I hope you did skip the rated scene in this chapter! I'm pleased I made your day awesome, and hope you had a great day at school :)**

**WitchyCloudPine: I'm so happy to hear from you! I'm pleased you're keeping up with the story :)**

**nanda: And even more kisses came up with this chapter :) Kei and Akemi will definitely reappear! They both have important roles in this story :) I'm glad you really like them both :)**

**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: Omg I hope no teacher saw you when you spat out your OJ! Thankfully it was only your friend! If I was her, I might have asked the same thing!**

_**Thanks again, everyone.**_

_**God bless :)**_


	19. Sealing a Memory

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: Sorry for the late update. Had exams which left my mind in a muddled mess of theoretical political BS. _**

**_The beginning of the chapter is rated. It's not too serious so I won't put in a warning. Just read at your own discretion because this is an M rated fic anyway._**

**_**I made mention of the otome game 'Hakuouki' in this chapter. It is a video game produced by Idea Factory and also has an anime. If you've never heard of it, you can always go check out all the stuff available on it. I think there's some Hakuouki manga out there as well and some OVAs too. I think a movie is supposed to come out too? _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 19: Sealing a Memory**_

_Mikoto pressed his knuckles under his chin as he observed his sleeping princess. She was huddled on the sofa that was to the side where the window was in the bar. He was sitting on the opposite couch, simply observing her._

_The way her facial features had filled out to create the image of a beautiful face, the way her body had grown to become that of a young woman's._

_What was he to do about her?_

_And about himself?_

_She was only fifteen, and here he was, so aware of how beautiful she had become as a young woman. _

_How did seeing her this way, watching the beautiful curves and shape of her body, make him any different from those perverts who wanted her?_

_Perverts like the Colorless King who had told him that he 'liked his women young'._

_People like those who came to the bar, offering millions of yen for the pretty princess._

_Psychos like Iwao who took pleasure in young adolescent girls._

_What made him different from these men?_

_The fact that he was able to not act on these feelings?_

_The fact that he could sense Anna wanting him?_

_He was a red blooded man but he would never dare harm Anna in any kind of way, but there was no way he could hold off forever from her._

_He had always considered her to be his, since she was a little girl-but not in a sexual way. At that time she had been the one to help him grasp his sanity, but now he wanted more from her._

_He didn't care if wanting more of her made him a selfish man because to hell with it, he was a lion and he didn't have to share._

_But Anna's feelings and future were a big consideration to him._

_And that was what stopped him and made him hold off longer, to keep telling himself until she got older. _

_Mikoto now watched as she stirred and sat up from the couch. Blinking her eyes sleepily before rubbing them like a child, she whispered his name, "Mikoto?"_

_Mikoto released a sigh and stood up with a cigarette in his hand. _

"_Go to bed, Anna."_

* * *

The mind had different levels of consciousness. Psychologists did not understand them fully but they did give various theories.

Freud theorized that there were three levels: the conscious, the pre-conscious and the unconscious. Conscious level was the state in which humans were on full alert and aware of our surroundings. Pre-conscious level involved stored knowledge and memories. Unconscious level was where one stored thoughts, memories and desires that were repressed.

Anna believed that the ruined Shizume City in Mikoto's mind was possibly another level of conscious that was between pre-conconsious and unconscious. This was because it was where he was aware of what he was capable of doing-destroying. This was where he had that knowledge of the danger he posed to others. Yet, it was also a place where he released some of his repressed desires. Hence, this was a level of consciousness that not even Freud knew about.

Well, the renowned psychoanalysis did not know about supernatural people like herself and her king so it was understandable that his theory did not also include another level of consciousness.

Either way, there seemed to be some interesting manifestations in this particular level of Mikoto's consciousness.

The man before her was her most precious person.

But not _completely_.

This person represented one aspect of her King: the passionate side of Mikoto Suoh.

Just as with her own traumatic dream about Mizuchi who had in fact been that reasoning part of herself, this was the manifestation of that part of Mikoto who sexually desired her.

And indeed, he was wildly gorgeous.

The way an almost animalistic lust burned in his eyes, the way his muscles rippled when he moved, the dark chocolate and whisky tone he used with her all sent electric shocks to her groin, exciting her and making her body feel so _sensitive_.

It was possible that he had been drawn up from Mikoto's unconscious level as he was a representation of a repressed desire-sexual desire.

Anna was standing in front of him, waiting for him to speak. She had obediently walked toward him and had come to stand before him.

His hand lifted and he cupped her cheek, pressing his thumb to her lower lip. Slowly, very lightly, he stroked her plump, smooth flesh.

His other hand moved to grip her by the waist. She could feel his fingers pressing against her skin through the t-shirt she was wearing.

She could feel his heat, his lust, so close to her.

And it _thrilled_ her.

Even though this was inside his mind, she could feel and sense everything, as if it was happening in the real, tangible world.

His thumb gently stroked the seam of her lips and she obediently parted them. His eyes seemed to darken as she willingly laved his appendage with her little pink tongue when he pressed it inside of her hot little mouth.

_Passion_.

She could feel it coming from him.

He was restraining himself as if she was a tasty morsel that he wanted to slowly savor, instead of gobbling her in one bite.

He carefully removed his thumb from her. It was slick with her saliva and he ran it over her lower lip again, dampening it before he slid that hand down to her waist as well.

Once both hands were gripped her tightly, he abruptly pulled her against him.

Anna gasped and both her own hands lifted to his shoulders in order to brace herself.

She stiffened when she felt his hard length pressing against her stomach.

It seemed to burn her, brand her pale skin.

Slowly, she lifted her eyes to his and blinked up at him.

He smirked at her, knowing she was intrigued by that part of his body that had brought her to pleasure without him even entering her body and taking her virginity.

Ah, there was no way Mikoto's claiming of her body could be painful. The only thing that seemed to wound her in anyway was the torture of him moving so slowly, sensually with her when she was becoming greedy for more.

"Mikoto told me sex was supposed to hurt," Anna said in an uncharacteristically husky tone. Her eyes were lowered slightly, her cheeks tinged pink.

Anna was beautiful when she exhibited her desire. Her wanting was so naked and innocent that he just wanted to mark her as his over and over again.

Mikoto snorted before his face became serious.

He bent her slightly so that he could lower his head to hers. One of his hands pressed into her thick mass of white hair and forced her head back so that he could drag his nose along the long column of her white neck and take in her soft, feminine scent.

He paused when he reached the area just under her chin. He nipped her there, as if testing the sensitivity of her skin there. When her response was to clutch his shoulders tightly, he deliberately bit her again before drawing back and straightening so that he could look at her beautiful face.

"It will probably hurt the first time," he admitted and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Then, at a calm pace, he continued pressing his lips gently down the side of her face.

"I'll have to be gentle then," he promised quietly in her ear before he arrived at her cheek.

Then, without warning, his arms went around her waist and gripped her more tightly against his hard, lean body.

She gasped and his eyes blazed down at her. "But it won't hurt after that. Then I'll take you when I want you, and _how_ I want you. And you'll love it so much, you'll _beg_ me for it,"

Anna had a feeling that he was cruel enough to do so.

She felt her heart stir with a sense of fear of what he was saying to her.

Yet, she was entranced. She wanted him to do what he wanted to her. She would willingly entrust him with her body to do with as he pleased, to teach her what the art of making love was.

If having sex with him was even more exciting than what she had felt tonight with him, then she wanted to know more.

She wanted his hands on her body, caressing her curves. She wanted him to touch her more, feel her more...and she wanted to learn the secrets of his own body.

Not as a child in need of his warmth, comfort and pretty red.

But as a woman who wanted to memorize every part of her man's physical form.

"Mikoto..." she voiced his name and lifted her mouth to his when his face lowered to hers again.

His kiss was searing and her arms shifted to wrap around his neck while his gripped her waist tightly, pressing her hard against his hot body. The way his lips moved, the way his tongue stroked all made her instinctively understand the urgency of his need for her. He may look like he was in total control but his kiss told her that he was tethering on the edge of losing his grip.

Anna was panting for breath when he finally let go of mouth. One of his hands gripped the end of the t-shirt she wore and was moving it upward to reveal her pale skin.

However, he was suddenly wrenched from her.

Anna stared in shock when she saw that what seemed to be another Mikoto. This was another manifestation of Mikoto, gripping his Passionate self in a headlock.

"That's enough now," this new form of Mikoto growled.

He was fully clothed in jeans and a white t-shirt, but devoid of his regular jewelry.

Anna blinked. From what she could sense, this was 'Mikoto', the rest of her King. He was every aspect of Mikoto she knew and loved but it seemed that the only part of himself missing was his lustful self who he was currently restraining.

"Why are you here again? Thanks to you I didn't get to feel those tits of hers," Passionate Mikoto grumbled.

Anna's eyes widened slightly.

It seemed that Mikoto really was becoming less mindful of his language with her.

Anna was literally looking at a man wrestle with himself. It was quite...interesting.

"Are you a pervert like Iwao?" Mikoto demanded of him other self.

That made Passionate Mikoto stiffen.

He cursed.

Mikoto let his Passionate self go and what seemed to be a slab of rock drew up amidst the ruins of the city. Passionate Mikoto willingly walked over to it and pressed his back against the flat rock. Immediately a pair of shackles appeared.

Passionate Mikoto looked at her as 'normal' Mikoto stepped back.

"Chain me," Passionate Mikoto ordered her.

Anna was surprised.

"Do it," he continued and she obeyed by walking over to him.

She took the cold metal of the shackle and carefully clasped it over one wrist.

While she moved to his other side and did the same, Passionate Mikoto vowed quietly, "One day I'll tie _you_ to my bed. Just like when we were in Seneca."

Anna stiffened at his words but she focused on clasping the shackle to his wrist.

"But I won't hesitate to rip the clothes from your body." Passionate Mikoto told her. Then he smiled wickedly. With his red hair and golden eyes, he definitely looked the part of a handsome devil. "I bet you're feeling it already. You're wet for me right now, aren't you?"

Anna's cheeks were burning red now, especially at his last line.

He was right.

"You want me to touch you. Why don't you take of that t-shirt and show me where you need my hands?" he suggested in a soft tone, all the while still smiling like the ruggedly gorgeous person he was.

Something about the way he was talking to her, smirking at her one minute and then become serious with lust in his eyes was making her body grow hotter in anticipation with him telling her what he wanted to do to her.

As if hypnotized by his words, she caught the hem of the t-shirt and slowly began to drag it upward. The way he watched her, with such wanting as he remained bound against a rock, looking like a chained warrior, kept her slowly sliding it up to her pale, smooth stomach. She completely revealed her long legs to him and her red panties that clung sweetly to her lower body.

However, before she could continue, Mikoto whacked his Passionate side on the side of his head and grasped Anna's cheek, pinching hard.

The sensual atmosphere was broken.

"You asshole!" Passionate Mikoto snapped.

Anna whimpered in pain and dropped the hem of the t-shirt so that it fell to her thighs again.

"If you continue like that, you'll break the shackles," Reasoning Mikoto snarled before turning his glare to Anna as he told her through clenched teeth, "and you shouldn't give in like that."

"She can't help it. She's hot for me."

"You're the one seducing her!"

"Mikoto," Anna said. Although a pair of identical golden eyes turned to her, she was only looking at one pair.

She blinked him, indicating that she did not really understand what was going on.

Mikoto sighed and produced a cigarette which he immediately lit after sitting down on what seemed to be what might have been a couch, had it not been ruined by fire.

Passionate Mikoto remained quietly chained, but observant on 'normal' Mikoto and Anna.

After blowing a stream of smoke, the unchained Mikoto began to explain to her.

"I separated the part of myself that lusts for you. I think you might have realized that by now."

Anna made a soft noise of assertion.

"You're the one I, the entire being of Mikoto Suoh wants. If you are the one who chains up that part of me that wants you then it's a way of you telling me 'no'. If it's like you denying me, then I won't touch you. The only way that guy will get loose is if you let him get too close to you."

"Mikoto-"

He did not let her speak as he stood up.

Over the city, what appeared to be a large door manifested itself. It swung open and Anna blushed furiously at what she saw.

There was the replaying of what had happened tonight.

Mikoto and Anna kissing, their tongues mating.

Mikoto tasting her sweat, pulling her across his lap, rubbing her intimately against him despite them both still being fully clothed.

"The expression when you come is beautiful," Passionate Mikoto rasped behind her when the image of Anna letting out a soft cry before slumping against Mikoto and breathing hard, came up.

Anna could hear the need, the absolute _thirst_ in his voice.

The door swung shut abruptly.

"I want you to seal this up. I'm giving you responsibility," he said her.

He had said that to her before he had forced them both to enter into his mind. Anna looked up at him with eyes that glowed red.

"Responsibility?" she repeated.

He nodded, "Of us,"

But she did not understand what he meant by 'us'.

It was the Passionate side of Mikoto, bound as he was, who spoke now, "Sealing the memory will make me forget everything that happened between us, even if it's only temporary. I won't have the memory of what you tasted like or what you felt like. If don't know, it will be easier for me to not want you, and for me to be kept chained here."

'Normal' Mikoto spoke again, "With that pervert chained up and no memory of what had happened, I'll be able to touch you without wanting to lock you in my room and screw you senseless."

Anna's cheeks reddened slightly at his words.

Technically, this randy Mikoto would be returned to Mikoto's unconscious level and therefore he would not have any awareness of at his conscious level of his strong desire for her. He might still sense it, but deep down he would be restrained and would not touch her sexually-unless tempted too much.

"This is the responsibility I'm giving to you: our future," he elaborated. "you're only sixteen. Turn away from me whenever you want me. If you see me looking at you in a way I shouldn't, walk away from me, otherwise that beast will break loose," he was referring to his Passionate self as the beast.

"Promise me."

"But-"

The sound of rattling interrupted her. Anna thought it was Mikoto's passionate side who was causing this noise, but it was actually a new set of chains appearing in the hands of 'normal' Mikoto. They were very long. He handed them to her.

Very few people had the power to seal memories, but Anna, because of her relationship with him, could do so.

"Do it," he instructed her and she had to obey him.

After all, he was her King.

The memory existed in his pre-conscious level as it was a memory but after sealing it, she would be forcing that down to his unconscious level as well as it actually be a repressed memory due to her locking it up as he had requested.

"Wait," she told him as he moved to step back.

He shot her a glare for her lack of immediate compliance to his command.

Anna tightened her hold on the chains, indicating nervousness on her part.

Mikoto noted this.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Will Mikoto kiss me...one last time?" she requested.

Her King snorted.

Why not?

He turned to his Passionate self and lifted his hand. His Passionate side nodded and Mikoto snapped his fingers. Slowly he vanished and when he turned his attention to Anna, she realized that this was the complete and total manifestation of her King now. He had pulled his Passionate side back into him.

Mikoto stepped toward her once more and took her in his arms. Holding her to his chest, he lowered his head and pressed a deep kiss against her sweet mouth.

Anna returned the kiss, just as she had learned from the experiences he had given her earlier: she thrust her tongue against his accepted when he slanted his mouth over hers to delve deeper into her.

Mikoto let her go abruptly.

"That's enough for now."

"Mikoto, are you also doing this to test my loyalty to you?" Anna couldn't help but ask.

Mikoto stared at her for a long moment.

He grasped her chin a bit roughly and looked down at her with golden eyes that glittered dangerously.

"I know you're loyal to me, Anna. You've proven that by always coming back to Homra over the years. You wouldn't _dare_ leave my side now."

His words were sharp, harsh and cutting.

Yet, it made her cheer up on the inside.

"Sealing this memory is for me to not remember what it was like to taste your skin, touch you and feel what it was like to have you come apart in my arms. Otherwise I will want more and drinking myself blind wouldn't be enough to stop me."

Anna was stunned at his words, but she accepted them.

"There are times when I could be weak. If I'm drinking, go to your room and lock your bedroom door. Alcohol will lower my defenses and break my restraints. Got it?"

Anna nodded.

Mikoto pressed the back of his knuckles against her soft cheek briefly. His eyes softened on her had an almost tender look in them.

"Do it," he commanded once more before he started to fade away.

"Yes," she said before his image fully disappeared. He had entered a deeper state of unconsciousness now and would leave her to work on this level of his mind.

The responsibility was hers now. The only way Mikoto was going to remember this was if something lustful happened between them again.

But she was ordered to not give into it and to not let anything happen between them. He was entrusting her with a huge task.

Anna threw the chains over the door and forced it shut.

Then, she had the chains shift and move around. With her own power she was able to have them move and slither upward to the door like snakes. They began to cover the shut door of that memory, sealing it. Once they completely engulfed it, she used a pair of locks that had come with the chains and sent them to hook around the chains. Anna finished by setting the locks into place. She had finished properly binding those memories. Mikoto would have some awareness of his passion for her, but enough of his memory and lust would be locked away so that he could function and even touch her without losing his sanity and claiming her as his own and marking her.

Now, she was done.

The memory was sealed.

Anna swallowed hard.

It might be unfair, but she understood why Mikoto wanted this done. The only problem was that she did not know when this memory should be unsealed and when that time arrived, what exactly would their relationship be?

* * *

When Anna opened her eyes, she found her cheek lying against a familiar warm spot on Mikoto's chest. For long moment, she lay unmoving, simply observing the steady rise and fall of his ribcage as he breathed in.

Mikoto did snore on occasion.

And growl in his sleep.

But tonight he seemed to be in a rather restful state of mind for the only sounds that came from him was from the deep intakes of air.

It was so warm and comfortable to be cuddled beside him like this.

But she had to get up before he awakened.

Slowly, she lifted her fair head from him.

His long arm that had been around her fell beside her with his movement.

Anna's long white hair spilled down her body and onto him, looking stark against the material of his dark clothing.

She observed his handsome sleeping face.

Mikoto did tend to sleep every and anywhere with much ease. Yet, even in sleep, he tended to retain some walls around him that kept him alert to anyone who might see his unguarded face. It was only in the privacy of his bedroom, and particularly when he had Anna in his arms that he let down those walls.

It was not that he looked like someone different...but it was the way he seemed to be more at ease, more at peace that he sometimes seemed to be a child, sleeping soundly.

Or a napping cub.

This was not a privilege many had.

In fact, Anna was the only person who could lift her hand and press it against the tanned skin of his cheek without being burned to ash.

There was a very slight bristle. He would have shave in the morning.

Anna lowered her white head to his, her long hair pooling around.

So accustomed Mikoto was with her that he did not even wake up to the little touches she gave when she kissed his forehead. He only released a soft sigh which caused his hot breath touch her pale throat. Anna moved to his cheek.

Perhaps he was so used to her affection that he responded, even when sleeping for he turned his head and returned her little kiss with a brief nuzzle at the side of her face.

Anna did not dare aim for his mouth.

As she was perhaps the first female he had kissed in several years, he might awaken from such a strange feel.

He had left the responsibility to her to keep their desire for each other at bay until the time reached-whenever that was and she had to carry it out.

* * *

Much later, Izumo Kusanagi hurried upstairs.

He had fallen asleep!

Oh no, did something happen between Anna and Mikoto?

Were they making love during the early hours of the morning?

Was his little Anna going to be a teenage mother?!

He hurried to Mikoto's room and pushing open the door, he saw the king sleep on his side.

Nothing seemed strange here.

He went to Anna's room next. He cracked it open just a tiny bit.

Revealed was Anna, lying on her back soundly asleep.

Nothing seemed strange there either.

Shrugging, the bartender closed the door.

He must have been worried for nothing.

* * *

_**Currently:**_

Mikoto frowned under the steady spray of the shower on him. Nothing had happened between himself and Anna and yet he felt unsettled in some kind of way. Maybe it was because of the way Anna no longer seemed to so easily show that she wanted him.

That was easier for him at least.

Still, he was worried.

Had nothing truly happened?

Well, he did trust Anna despite their recent problems.

And everything seemed to be more or less alright now.

* * *

Kei was a curious fellow in Akemi's eyes.

There many things she loved about him and even the things she hated about him, she found oddly endearing.

She loved the way he smiled, and made jokes. He always knew when she was sad and would often cheer her up. He always knew what to say. He was handsome, and he was a generally good natured person.

What she hated about him was the way he would go about threatening her-smiling warmly while pinching her.

Or at least doing something sweet and warm while on the other hand doing her something mean to punish her.

It annoyed her whenever he did things like that, but at the same time, she loved it.

Perhaps she was really a masochist at heart.

But aside from his personality, there were also some interesting traits Kei had.

His level of intelligence was beyond her.

No one would ever expect that this joker was so brilliant minded: he was not a plumber and yet he had just reworked the entire plumbing system at Sayuri's maid cafe so that the faucets functioned properly and the toilets no longer backed up.

Where the hell did he learn to do that?

She had always known that he was a bit of a whiz tech as when they were bounty hunting, he was often the one behind the computers and always knew what would be the most useful, sophisticated piece of equipment to use.

Heck, even when they were in the Finder's Club, he was the lead guy in information tech!

But something like plumbing was so practical, something that one needed to be trained into doing, and yet he, who had _never_ done any such work had figured out how to make it work better.

How odd was that?!

Okay, okay the truth was that JJ _had_ helped him out. For how stupid the older Junichi brother acted, he was actually a brilliant man as well. He had attended a university of technology and had done well. Akemi did not know what particular field he had studied. She assumed it might have been along the lines of Biochemistry but she was not sure.

It also seemed that he was a bit eccentric because instead of working in a maid cafe he could have found a job he was qualified in.

Akemi figured that perhaps he was simply looking for a change of pace after all those years of studying.

The smarts ran in the Junichi family because even Kei showed knowledge beyond his years.

In Middle School, Anna had been considered the brightest one in the Girls' school, and Kei in the Boy's school.

Akemi's strong points had always been languages and literature.

In High School, the trio's strong points became more prominent as Kei bested Anna in subjects such as Math and Physics while Akemi became the best actress in their drama club and was fluent in several languages. Anna still topped everyone in everything else such as Biology and History. Unlike Akemi and Kei, she never really seemed to care about how well she did.

The other two loved competing with each other.

Mainly because Kei was the one who used to harass Akemi which made her want to stomp him into the floor. So, all fired up she would study hard, as would he.

Then they would heckle the life out of each other the subject areas they topped over each other in.

Kei had wanted to attend a university in Germany because of their high level of technology. However, his brother who was a bit of a nut with an obsession over his own country had claimed that Japan itself had many top notch Universities of Technology and that Kei should attend one.

Although JJ was right, Kei had wanted to experience living elsewhere and learning from others what their technology was like, and how they went about doing their tasks. Understanding how others did similar things would help him to improve himself.

He would not have the funds to support himself in a foreign university, even if he did earn a scholarship. The cost of airfare, books and dorm fees would have been too much. The scholarship would have only covered his tuition. He decided then that he would attend a local university and then try to earn a scholarship by getting high grades which would grant him an opportunity to leave the country and study abroad for a period of time as an exchange student.

He had already checked out universities to see what they offered. Thus far, he discovered that for some of them, all his expenses would be covered if he was allowed to study abroad for that period of time.

However, he had to attain and maintain extremely high grades.

It was a challenge he was up for.

As for Akemi, she still had trouble with her family at home. She was no longer bullied, but ignored by everyone.

It hurt quite a lot and that was why Kei often checked on her either at work or dropping in unexpectedly to see her.

However, Akemi realized over time that blood was _not_ truly thicker than water. Kei and Anna and even her boss, Sayuri were not blood-related to her and yet they treated her much better than her own father did.

Christopher Hisoka was not willing to give Akemi any support for her to become an actress as she wanted because of his wife who was still jealous of Akemi and her deceased mother.

Akemi had to work hard by now by trying to get into model agencies and make herself known. If she could get her face out there to the public eye then maybe an agency might take her on contract and pay for tuition in the school she attended.

She had also studied hard for entrance exams into certain universities in hopes of at least getting a scholarship. So maybe, just maybe, something might happen.

* * *

"Are you feeling any better now, Kei?" JJ asked his brother as he carefully added some whipped cream to the top of a pretty sundae.

The pair was in the kitchen. As Anna was not able to come to work today (they told Sayuri that she had a family emergency), Kei had to take over her shift.

"I'm a lot better now," Kei assured him.

JJ smiled in relief. "I'm pleased to hear that. Oh, wait. This is for the final customer before you get your break. Table 8."

Kei nodded and accepted the sundae after JJ added the final touch of sprinkles.

"Where's your pretty friend?"

"Akemi's checking her tips in the locker room," Kei answered.

JJ grinned, "Oh, Akemi is very sweet and beautiful, but I'm talking about Anna. Isn't she supposed to working with you all today? Normally the three of you have the same hours,"

Kei threw his brother a frown over his shoulder. He didn't particularly like the way his brother attempted to flirt with Akemi and it seemed that JJ backed off whenever Kei told him off for it.

However, he did love his brother enough to also warn him off from Anna because flirting with Anna was like flirting with death.

Kei could clearly recall being threatened by the Red King when they were still in Middle School. It was like staring into the eyes of a beast.

Yet, the times he saw Anna and Mikoto together brought out another side to the ferocious man. With most people, Mikoto Suoh seemed like a grumpy, moody person.

With Anna, he seemed more like a pet.

Yes, almost like a _pet_.

A possessive, grumpy pet who showed a special love only to his owner.

"Anna went home. There's been a family emergency," Kei replied.

He could clearly recall the other night when Kusanagi Izumo and Mikoto Suoh had come to his apartment.

Kei had gotten weak from anemia when he had been speaking to Izumo. As his medication was home, Izumo had agreed to take him and Akemi back to his apartment so that they could speak there.

The young man could tell that Izumo had been trying to create a more comfortable atmosphere for him as he was aware that over-stressing him in his sickly condition was in no way good for him.

Yet, there had been that underlying look in the bartender's eyes that said that he would only do so much to be kind, but he wanted answers and he would damned well do what he wanted to get them.

"Is that so? Is that why her family came to see her the other day?" JJ questioned.

Kei froze. He turned around slowly to look at his brother. "JJ, how do you know that was Anna's family?" Kei asked slowly.

Akemi came in when Kei asked this. She seemed to sense some tension coming from her friend and placed a careful hand on his shoulder.

"Kei? Are you alright?"

Her voice was gentle when she spoke and somehow this eased him a bit.

Akemi was observant enough to note that Kei seemed to have become serious toward his brother. Thinking it might be best to let them sort it out, she took the tray with the sundae from him.

"This is for table eight, isn't it? Let me have it."

Kei allowed her to accept it.

JJ watched her leave through the door before smiling at his brother, who had a very rare, serious look on his face.

"Kei, I spent enough time in Shizume City to know about the different clans. I do not know much, but I know more than the average person. I am aware that Anna is something like a princess to the Red Clan...I'm assuming that you do know already know things as you are her friend."

Kei folded his arms and gave a small nod.

"How did you know?"

JJ shrugged. "I used to see them going through the streets quite often. A group of thugs walking around with a small, pretty child, is a rare and unforgettable sight you know."

"Child?" Kei repeated, confused.

JJ nodded then gave a little shudder. "Those guys were overprotective and brutal when it came to her,"

_The small girl gave a soft cry when the group of older guys bumped into her, making her fall to the ground._

"_Anna! Are you alright?" the short fellow with a skateboard cried out. _

_She managed to push herself upward and nod as the chubby man who stooped beside her helped her up._

_The skateboarder spun around to the group of guys. _

"_You bastards, apologize!" he snarled. _

_The group stopped walking and turned around. The one who had knocked into Anna had bleached hair as well as eyebrow, lip and nose piercings. _

_He laughed. _

"_What'll you do if I don't, shorty? Go home and cry to mommy?" he mocked. _

"_Don't bring my mother into this, dumbass!" _

"_Boo-hoo. I guess you're really gonna cry to her, mommy's boy!" the guy taunted. Before he could open his mouth again, Yata's fist slammed into his face which sent him flying into the opposite wall. He it so hard, his body literally cracked the wall upon impact. _

"_I told you to apologize," Yata reminded them._

_Anna was holding Kamamoto's hand, oberving quietly without any expression on her face. The group of guys began to shake. _

"_W-Who are you?" one of them asked._

_Behind them, someone else remarked, "Your worst nightmare,"_

_They spun around to see Chitose standing there with a piece of wood in his hand, casually slapping it into the open palm of his other hand. _

"_They're Homra! Run!" the men cried out in realization. _

"_Hey! You bastards didn't apologize!" Yata yelled after them but they had already run off._

* * *

"It was like watching a herd of deer run from a pride of lions. Kind of scary you know," JJ told his brother as he recounted the incident to him.

"That was the first time I encountered them. It really was odd that a group of yakuza-like guys would protect such an elegant little girl. I wondered if she was the princess of their leader or something so I made some enquiries. I learned that she was a part of the terrifying Red Clan and that the members were very protective of her. That was a couple of years ago and at that time she seemed to be really little. When I met her, I thought she looked familiar but I didn't think the girl who was treated like a princess in the Red Clan would be working all the way here in Seneca. It was only when those guys came in the other day and I recognized them that I was able to figure it out."

Kei frowned. "What exactly do those guys do?"

"I haven't a clue. As far as I know, where the most dangerous men of Shizume City are, the Red Clan goes and weeds them out."

Kei paused. "Wait. They took Anna with them when they went after these guys? When she was a little girl?"

JJ nodded as he wiped the counter. "Yeah. So it seems."

The young man did not know whether or not to laugh. After all, who the hell took a little kid with them-a girl no less-to places like that?!

But then again, Anna was different from most people so going to places like that probably did not traumatize her.

"When you saw them years ago, did they happen to have a guy with them who had light colored hair and smiled a lot?"

"Well, there was this fat guy..."

"No, this guy was skinny and he had one earring pierced high on his ear. Ever saw him?"

JJ seemed to be racking his brain.

"Hm...not that I can recall," the older brother responded.

Kei looked a bit disappointed.

"I see. I better get going."

JJ observed as his brother walked away.

His eyes remained very serious on Kei as he left.

* * *

"Do you think Anna is with her harem right now?" Akemi questioned Kei as they walked down the cold streets.

"Harem? Anna? What the heck are you talking about?" Kei demanded.

Akemi looked at her friend with serious blue eyes. "Her harem, Kei. You saw those guys who came in! They were all hot!"

"They're her family, not some random guys from an otome game you damned otaku!" Kei snapped.

Akemi snorted. "They are like a bunch of guys from a harem! The short guy is like the youngest one out of the lot who gets along well with the otome because they're closer in age-"

"Yatagarasu is a lot older than Anna!" Kei did recall that Yata was a world-class skateboarder, and that he was already in his twenties.

"Well, he's short enough to be a middle schooler!"

Kei slapped a palm to his face.

Seriously?

Did Akemi _really_ think like this?

"And then there's Kusanagi-sensei! He's like the hot, flirty, friendly one out of the lot who's a lot more mature than the others!"

Kei scowled. "Izumo Kusanagi. The hot one," Kei mimicked her voice. Then, in his normal tone, "what about the fat guy?"

"What about him?"

"Isn't he part of her so-called harem too?"

Akemi grinned slyly then. "Of course he is. Anna showed me a few pictures of him once. Fat or no fat, he's the sweetest guy. He's the good, kind one out of the bunch and in the summer, he gets really skinny and he looks so sexy!"

Kei's mouth dropped open.

Sexy?

Sexy?!

Akemi described one of those guys as _sexy_?!

No, no.

It was like...a nightmare for him!

Why was it a nightmare for him?

Well, he couldn't really say why. Maybe because those guys were all fighters...and he was just a bit of anemic nerd whose good looks were the only thing going for him. He couldn't pack a punch like they did so perhaps he did feel a bit inadequate compared to them.

And hearing Akemi's infatuation with them left him feeling just a tad unsettled.

"Oh, and then there's the boy with the foreign blood in him."

"Yeah, he resembles you," Kei muttered, annoyed.

"Blond hair and blue eyes don't make us alike," Akemi snapped.

"Yeah, his personality is probably better than yours," Kei agreed a little too seriously for her liking.

"And better than yours too! He's the serious one who's always at the otome's side when she needs him!"

"And Mikoto-san! What is he?" Kei demanded now, pissed off.

Akemi was very studious in observing those guys.

_She should study her school work the way she studies those guys_, he thought sourly although he knew that Akemi took her academics quite seriously.

"Mikoto-san is the leader! The star of the game! The one to whom the otome is most loyal! He's grumpy and moody but he has a big heart!" Akemi exclaimed and Kei could almost see stars in her eyes.

Kei came to a stop.

Akemi did the same, confused by why he had paused in walking.

"Kei?"

The young man grabbed Akemi around the neck, holding her in a headlock. "Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Mikoto-san doesn't have enough discipline to be Hijikata-san! You can't tell me that guy is anything like him!" Kei argued.

_Hijikata-san_?

"Wait...Kei, have you been playing Hakuouki?"

Kei quickly let her go and shoved his hands in his pockets as he began to walk away.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He quickened his stride but Akemi hurried over to him.

"Yes you do! Kei plays Hakuouki! And Hijikata Toshizo is your favorite character!" she declared, ignorant of the many people passing around them.

Kei smiled then.

Akemi stiffened for she could see flowers practically bloom around his head. "K-Kei?"

"Say it a little louder, why don't you, sweet Akemi?" he told her and lifted a hand to gently stroke her hair.

The pretty girl wanted to turn and run, but she couldn't.

Not with Kei's grip on her hair.

Nervously, she said to him, "Mikoto-san isn't like Hijikata-san. When Anna played Hakuouki, she chose Kazama Chikage."

Kei cocked an eyebrow and released Akemi's hair. "Chikage?"

The girl nodded. "She said that he was more like Mikoto than Hijikata. In fact she told me that Hijikata was more like Munakata-sensei. You remember him, right?"

Kei nodded, recalling the teacher who had come into the school around the same time as Mikoto and Izumo.

"She also told me that Chikage sounded more like Mikoto-san. Something about how he looks like the bad guy who's really good."

Kei frowned slightly. Well, the personality of Chikage probably fit Mikoto better than Hijikata.

Mikoto was just too damned lazy to be like the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi.

_"I thought you might have chosen Harada. He has red hair and you like red hair, don't you? He might look a bit like Mikoto-san!" Akemi commented as her friend played with the game. _

_Anna's eyes remained on the characters on the screen of the game. _

_"Too much like Izumo."_

_Akemi blinked. __"Eh?"_

_Just what did that mean?_

_"Chikage," Anna continued as she chose his route. _

_Akemi scratched the back of her head. Maybe Chikage's red eyes were attractive to her?_

If Kei thought things over better, maybe he did actually Chikage more than Hijikata.

"Is that so? But then, what does that make us?" Kei questioned.

How did he and Akemi fit into the game?

"Maybe we're the extra guys from Reimeiroku? You know, like Ryu and Kosuzu."

Akemi and Kei looked at each other.

And burst out laughing at that.

There was no way they were going to be like that! Their personalities were too different from those two!

But Ryunosuke Ibuki and Kosuzu had ended up together.

Kei probably did not take that into consideration, but Akemi did.

Although she knew that Hakuouki was just a game, and this was reality, she still hoped that maybe in some kind of way, Kei's feelings would grow into something else from her.

"Hey, why are you looking so depressed now?" her friend asked her.

"It's Anna," she lied. This was sort of true, but it wasn't what had taken away her cheerful mood, "is she coming back?"

"Sayuri-san said she called her about the so-called family emergency. She says she has to be home in Shizume City more often now, but she would come in on certain days to work."

Akemi nodded. "Even though she does not admit, I know her preference would be for her to spend time with her family, but she loves us as well."

"Yeah. The real reason why she is actually keeping this job in Seneca is to spend time with us. Kusanagi-san told us we had to stop our bounty hunting activities. If we didn't he would have reported us to the school's administration."

Bounty hunting was therefore not something to keep them together. Work at the maid cafe was there new meeting ground.

"I'm not upset," Akemi admitted, "I'm kind of glad. Anna was doing too much of the dirty work."

Kei looked thoughtful. "I wonder what she's up to now?"

* * *

Anna was sitting under Mikoto's watchful eye as she sipped at her miso soup. They were at the bar where Izumo was doing his most favorite thing in the world-polishing his precious glass. That way, he could sigh with joy at their shimmering beauty.

When Anna paused with her soup, Mikoto shot her glare.

Anna blinked at him and picked up her bowl, bringing it to her mouth so that she could drink the warm liquid.

Izumo was starting to get creepy as he whispered soft words to the glass he had just polished.

"So pretty...you're very pretty," he cooed softly at the item before bringing it to his cheek and pressing it against his face with great affection.

Both Anna and Mikoto were used to his odd behavior around his bar.

And it never ceased to make them stop and stare at his shameless displays of sffection for his precious, precious bar.

"_Mikoto, why is Izumo talking to the counter?" was eight year old Anna's query to her King. He was sitting on the couch beside her with his hands shoved in his pockets. He glanced at her and saw the inquisitive look in her eyes, despite her blank expression. _

_Then his eyes shifted to his friend who had his arms over the counter, and was lovingly telling it how pretty it was today. _

_He turned away and sigh. _

"_Because he's in love."_

"_Love?" she repeated._

_Mikoto gave a curt nod and a quiet grunt in response._

_Anna returned her attention to their beloved bartender. _

"_Mikoto...isn't it strange?" she asked again._

_Mikoto snorted now. _

"_There's not a damned thing normal about this place, Anna. Including Izumo."_

_At the same time, the door burst open and the silence of the bar disappeared. _

"_I wasn't watching her underwear!" Yata argued as he covered his bruised cheek. _

"_Ah, of course not! You didn't deliberately drop that quarter and searched for it for a full sixty seconds next to that girl with short skirt!" Tatara exclaimed cheerfully. _

"_There was something in my eye, how was I to know the quarter was by her foot-"_

_Someone else barged in. _

"_Look, I found an iguana on the side of the road!" Fujishima exclaimed._

"_Ah! Get that reptile out of here!" Izumo shouted upon sight of the scaly beast. _

"_But it was cold...alone...it could have gotten run over by a bus..."_

"_No! Look at those talons! That damned thing's huge and those claws are sharp! My couches, my curtains...my beautiful counter!" Izumo cried out in horror as he pictured the creature tearing at and destroying his establishment. _

_Poor Fujishima's shoulders slumped as he became downcast._

_He nearly fell over when someone bumped in from behind. _

_It was Dewa who was walking quickly away from Chitose. His friend was chasing him. _

"_Ah, don't be like that! It's a double date! That sexy redhead has a gorgeous friend who-"_

"_No! I have a girl of my own!" Dewa snapped at Chitose. _

"_Kamamoto, did you eat up all the rice balls again?!" Yata shouted when he saw their comrade sitting in a corner of the bar with tell-tale signs of rice grains all about his mouth._

_"Ah...I was just sampling them."_

_"Liar!"_

_Anna smiled quietly despite all the ruction._

_Mikoto saw her doing so and quietly observed her. _

"_I like that it's not normal in Homra," she confided in a soft voice. _

"_I see," Mikoto murmured at her words and kindly patted her head. _

"Oi, stop making love to that cup. It's disgusting," Mikoto told Izumo.

The bartender's expression became aghast.

"Cup? _Cup_?! What part of this looks like a cup to you?" he demanded. He held it up the light so that it caught on the crystal rim. "Look at that! It's beautiful! Brillant! Like capturing a sunbeam!" Then Izumo turned his head away with his nose in the air. "Anyway, shows how much _you_ know, Mikoto. To you a glass is simply something to drink from."

Mikoto shrugged as he lit a cigarette.

"What other use is there for it? To cry like a baby when one breaks?"

Izumo rolled his eyes as he set his beloved glass aside. He gave it warm look of love before picking up another one of his precious 'babies'.

"Can't teach a fish to climb a tree," Izumo remarked.

Mikoto merely snorted at his friend's words.

Anna smiled softly at her guardian and her king. She loved being here and being among them.

"Any word on Yata-chan?" Izumo questioned.

"He's stable now."

"They gave him the antidote?"

"Heard him screaming like a bitch in the background."

Izumo paused in polishing his glass.

As did Anna from eating her soup.

"Did Misaki...hurt?" Anna asked softly. Her eyes were wide and almost doe-like as she looked from Mikoto to Izumo.

They understood that she was still upset from Yata getting hurt for her sake. She had become terrified of losing someone else she loved.

Izumo and Mikoto shared a look.

The king realized that he should have been more careful with his words for Anna would be a bit sensitive after what had happened.

Mikoto placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Ironically, under that warm hand, beneath her clothing and marred on her skin was a mark he had placed there from his insistent sucking on her skin the night before.

Ah, but she could not let these memories come to her again. Not when she was in front of these two. She remembered the warning from last night-turn away from those feelings otherwise all the trouble Mikoto had gone through would have gone out the window.

"He's fine. You can go see him soon."

"When?"

"When Natsume says it's alright."

"She said she might drop by. She wanted to speak to Anna," Izumo recalled as he returned to his glass.

"Probably tomorrow," Mikoto replied and dropped his hand.

If he wondered why he did not lust for her and why it wasn't difficult to be at ease with her, he did not show it.

Perhaps he was simply more grateful that he was no longer on the edge of grabbing her and locking her in his room with himself.

Perhaps some part of him was aware that something had happened to alleviate his yearning for her.

As for Anna, her body still throbbed with hickeys from where he had touched.

She did not understand everything such as when she would be old enough for Mikoto, and how would she know when to unseal the memory, and even if it was herself who would unseal it.

But she trusted Mikoto, so she would wait until the time was right.

* * *

_**A/N: **__**I know that Akemi's comparison of the guys from Homra and Munakata were a bit inaccurate, but she was simply making assumptions on what she saw in a very short period of time. **__**Hence, she only knows how Izumo based on how he had been as a sensei and the others only from what she could assume as she never really spoke to them. **_

_**But seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if the game had become a reverse-harem. The characters are perfectly suited for it. **_

_**Ps: In case you didn't know, the seiyuu for Chikage is the same guy who did the voice for Mikoto :)**_

_****I promise a little more sensuality between Anna and Mikoto in later chapters.**_

_****I don't know much about Hakuouki Reimirouku. Just a few things here and there. **_

**_Thank you, all of you who follow and favorite this story, as well as those who took the time to review. Thanks so much, they always keep me motivated to keep on writing._**

**_I also apologize once more for such a delayed chapter. Hope you enjoyed._**

**For those who reviewed: **

**LindyLinn: I'm glad I made you happy. I just put in a little extra sexual tension in here, and hope you enjoyed that as well :)**

**Wonderland Reminiscence: Hi there, thanks for reviewing and thanks for your kind words as well as the well wishes on exam! I'm pleased you liked the chapter :)**

**Indochine: I'll miss you! *Waves hanky in goodbye* Hope I really am able to complete a lot of chapters so that you will have a lot to enjoy when you get back :)**

**LadyCassie: He had to seal them away otherwise he would end up having sex with her before he felt was a right time. I used to call him 'Benny'. Simple and nice :)**

**princessforeveralone: I'm glad you liked the chapter and sorry for the cliffhanger! Hope you enjoyed this one and good luck with your exams! I'm sure you'll ace it!**

**creativeactive: Nope, they did not have sex. Just kind of rubbed against each other ;) I think this chapter might have made it a bit clearer :)**

**Flower 117: Shizume City was technically Mikoto's mind and now you know what happened ;) Yes, other characters will show up in the future. I've been asked to bring in Neko again. I'm still trying to figure out how, and I am working on a plot to introduce Seri. It may not be for the purpose of another love triangle, my only problem is that if I got with that plot, the story might end up going on for much longer. I don't really want the story to drag. I mentioned Akemi and Kei in this chapter, hope you enjoyed their interactions :) I think the big announcement is that they will be releasing a new manga on Munakata's past and a volume 3 in Memory of Red is supposed to come out about Tatara's funeral which will be some time in October. This is just stuff I found out on the internet so I'm not sure on the accuracy of it all. As for more Anna/Mikoto art, I agree! There's a new poster coming out though with Mikoto's birthday and all the guys with cake and Anna holding out a piece on a fork for him to eat. I'm looking out for when someone puts up a decent scan of it!**

**AngelGirl0200: LOL :)**

**Mikoto's wife: Thanks for your review! I'm pleased you're enjoying this story so much and don't worry, I don't plan on killing off either one. I'm quite sure someone will threaten to kill me if I do that. You don't sound silly at all and it really means a lot to me that you love this story. Thank you :)**

**WitchyCloudPine: I think the proper word for that combination of topics is 'geopolitics'. Blah. It was awful and I messed up. But it's over with and I don't want to see another exam or schoolbook again for a very long time! Anyway, I'm pleased you enjoyed how I wrote the chapter. Thanks for the well wishes :) **

**xNightDreamerx: I actually did check it out wiki just to find out if any of the characters die. I actually don't remember a single thing I read so I guess I don't have to worry about any spoilers since I don't remember them :) Poor Izumo indeed! Thankfully he has his bar to comfort him!**

**Hannah Scholte: 'Mikanna' is a good name for this pairing. It actually sounds like someone's name-which is actually a very pretty name :)**

**DBerryNia: He would only act this way for Anna :) They are going to take things a bit more slowly now. Yes, we do have a little detour of Akemi and Kei in this chapter ;)**

**FragileBlueButterflies: Hi there, I think it's very humble of you to apologize about your words. It's very of you mature and I really respect you as a person for doing so. I accept your apology and I definitely forgive you :) Thank you for the kind words about the story, I truly appreciate them. Is your fic completed yet? If not, keep at it and because I'm sure you're a very talented writer and I would look forward to reading your material. I mentioned in another chapter the reasons why I haven't read or reviewed many people's own Anna/Mikoto fics, it's in an A/N at the end of Chapter 14 I think. When I'm done with this story, I'm going to gorge myself on all the other Anna/Mikoto fics on the site (but seeing as this story is nowhere near completion, I may get around to reading some fics before, including yours). I will have lots of awesome stuff to read! ^_^**

**Arius the Heretic: Lol, how could I not realize that it had to be him?! He really is the most awesome character :) School does take a lot away from you and I can definitely relate to what you're saying about how you end up being like those anime characters whose souls leave them through their bodies and they're left as empty shells. That was me after my exam this week :/ Thanks for your well wishes concerning the exam, and don't worry you probably did a whole lot better than you realized in your own. And keep up the good work in your school. Even if it's tough, there's a big pay off at the end once you have your personal goals in sight and you keep at them :)**

**nanda: I hope it was a truly enjoyable roller coaster ride :) Thanks a lot :)**

**_Thanks again all of you_.**

**_As for anyone who saw the raws of the recent Memory of Red Chapter, I'm sure you thought these words at the end of it: "'This is a story of happiness.' Gora...you liar"._  
**

**_Until next update, God bless :)_**


	20. Fushimi's Flowers

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_*PLEASE READ!: If you are reviewing this story, please don't review as 'Guest' if you aren't logged in. Please put a name so that I can identify you. I had a couple of reviews that were from 'Guest' so I can't identify how many reviews were from the same person (although I know that at least two were indeed from the same individual). _**

**__****_*To the anonymous reviewer (assuming you are a different person from the other person(s) who reviewed as 'Guest') who did not understand the two Mikotos, I am aware that it could have been a bit confusing to some readers. I explained some more in this chapter and I hope you understand now._**

**__****__****__****_*To that particular person(s) who reviewed as 'Guest' and seemed to be so displeased with the story, especially the last chapter, I can't help you if you disregard the chapter details and character development of this story, in both the prequel and the sequel. All I can advise you to do is stop wasting your time reading the story. _**

**_*I also added in some stuff in this chapter to give an extra explanation for what had happened in the last chapter as I don't think everyone understood it. _****_If you still don't understand, just let me know in the reviews and I will either respond to you in the next chapter at the end of the document, or if many people come forward and say they don't understand then I will find the time to edit the previous chapter and make it more understandable. I have absolutely no problem doing that once I get the time to do so. Just be sure to let me know what it is that you do not understand so I would know what to do and how to explain._**

**_****I also forgot to mention that the 'levels of consciousness' is a real theory put forward by Sigmund Freud. I think most people would have heard of him in some way or the other, but for those who haven't but have an interest in Psychology, you can google him. _**

**_*I made mention of some stuff from one of the stories from the Premium Collection. I think it's called 'Sweet Valentine'. _**

**_*For those who reviewed the last time, thanks so much, I truly, truly appreciate it. I always say that it's because of you I feel motivated to continue writing and it is true. I am very sorry for my slower updates but a lot of stuff has been going on. I still appreciate you all always letting me know that you look forward to the story. It was what really pushed me to update this time around. Thank you all so much. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 19: Fushimi's Flowers**_

"Anna, Mikoto wants to speak to you," Izumo called from behind the door.

She cracked open her bedroom door slightly and looked up at her guardian. She nodded and let him know that she would speak to Mikoto after she finished getting dressed.

Many things had happened between herself and Mikoto over the course of one night. She had been kissed and held in an almost beautifully erotic way by him.

Yet, their sensuality had been cut short and Mikoto had put a stop to anything else happening between them.

Anna thought back on everything that had happened.

She understood that the night before, that part of Mikoto who was bound was simply one part of him and that was the side of him that felt sexual desire or strong lust. The other Mikoto was the rest of him, including that reasoning part of him that told him to stop and act like a man and not an animal.

That was why when she had seen the two of them argue, it had been literally watching a man wrestle with his own conscience in order to not give into temptation: the reasoning Mikoto had been telling the Passionate Mikoto to stop and think a little. That was why when Iwao had been mentioned, he did pause.

Because Mikoto had too much pride as a man to act like a low bastard like Iwao even if Iwao tended to have preferences for younger females.

Anna had the responsibility of binding Passionate Mikoto because it was like her giving resistance to Mikoto's advances on her. As Mikoto would never willingly do something to harm her, the chains were a manifestation of her saying 'no' to him, therefore they were the literal restraints that bound him from her.

That was why she had been told, in effect, to get the hell away from him if anything like desire was sparking between them.

This aspect of Mikoto, bound as he was, would be sent into his unconscious state of mind, along with that memory of what had happened between them. This meant that Mikoto would be able to act as normal as possible with Anna without having his desire for her riot like a wild animal as the unconscious level was where repressed memories and feelings were.

* * *

Anna finished combing out her white hair before she left to go to Mikoto's room. She stood before the wooden door and knocked twice before entering.

Mikoto was sitting in his armchair, leaning on an elbow with his hand pressed against his cheek as he observed her.

He frowned slightly upon sight of her.

"Oi...is that my shirt?" he asked.

She had donned one of his shirts today. It was the long sleeved white one that she had chosen the day before when he had locked her in his room. Even though it was at least three times her size and probably fit like a tent on her she looked oddly..._fetching_.

Along with the shirt was a pair of her own soft, black pants that seemed to fit her comfortably.

"My dresses are too tight," she answered.

Mikoto cocked a red eyebrow at her.

Too _tight_?

He casually lit a cigarette as he stretched his feet out before him.

"What part of a boney brat like you actually grew?" he questioned.

Anna's mouth twisted slightly. She was indeed growing more and more embarrassed as she had to admit _where_ exactly was tight for her.

And she didn't particularly like being called '_boney_'.

Despite this, she managed to look him straight in the eye and unblinkingly, she explained, "The bodices are too tight now,"

Mikoto was a bit slow here. The bodices of her dresses were too tight?

But her stomach was so flat. At least from what he could recall due to all the time he had literally spent sucking on the pale flesh of that part of torso. A distant part of his mind recalled how soft, sweet and supple she had tasted there.

It was only when his eyes fell on her chest that he realized that it was the _upper_ part of her body that had grown.

So her breasts had grown bigger?

Oh.

Truthfully, her dresses had become tighter for a long time now but she had kept on putting off purchasing newer clothing.

"Izumo promised to fix the dress you got me, but I needed something to wear and Mikoto's shirts are comfortable and...warm."

She had an assortment of other tops to wear on but they were not really clothing she would wear at home.

"I don't mind," he assured her in an off-handed manner.

She knew he wouldn't really care if she used some of his clothes. He was just never bothered by such things.

Somewhere in Mikoto's mind echoed that it would be very easy to unbutton that shirt and pull it from her shoulders.

Normally, Mikoto's body would instantly grow hotter at his thoughts, his heart would beat faster and his pulse would race.

But he was able to somehow control himself.

"Izumo said you wanted to speak to me," Anna reminded him.

Mikoto gave a small grunt in response.

Anna placed her hands together in front of her rather primly and waited for him to speak.

"Why did you pull out the needles when Izumo specifically warned you not to?"

Anna blinked. She was surprised at his question.

Yet, it was only logical he queried such things of her.

"Misaki protected me when he got hit. He fell on top of me. I was surprised and I...thought he was going to die."

Mikoto heard the hesitation in her voice and let her continue to speak.

"I thoughtlessly pulled the needles out on instinct because they were feeling uncomfortable. I acted before thinking. I'm sorry."

She also bowed apologetically, a similar polite stance to the one she used when she greeted customers at her maid cafe.

Mikoto blew out the smoke from his cigarette before crushing it into the ashtray and lighting another one. He tilted his red head back and blew out a long stream of white vapor as the components of the tobacco relaxed him. Turning slightly, his eyes fell on the digital clock that was sitting on his nightstand. It was eleven in the morning.

What a shock that he was actually waking this early.

Well, he did intend to take a nap.

Soon.

Not that he hadn't just awakened. Mikoto had grumpily opened his eyes with the recollection that there was some stuff he had to do today, including having a little chat with Anna about what had happened with the strain. She was feeling much better compared to yesterday when she had to eat mostly liquid foods and therefore she ought to be more clear minded today. Today was therefore a better time to speak to her.

As a result of resting many hours, he was still dressed in his sleeping clothes-black pajama bottoms and an armless white shirt. He did not have on any of his regular jewelry.

Anna straightened up and looked at her king who was taking another drag of that cancerous stick.

"Come here," he ordered.

She obeyed and walked closer to stand before him.

Mikoto took a lazy drag from his cigarette.

"Closer," he urged.

Anna frowned and ended up standing with the toes of her bared feet touching his larger ones which were covered in white socks.

Mikoto kept his cigarette between the fingers of his right hand while he used his left hand to reach out and easily undo the fifth button of the shirt she was wearing and moved downward. He made sure to start at the button that was under her breasts so that he did not reveal anymore than he should see of her.

Anna did not need for him to tell her what he was doing.

He wanted to see for himself how the wound on her stomach was. He had already observed the one on her neck. Now he needed confirmation for himself that the one on her tummy was healing up nicely.

He undid the buttons to the end of the garment. It rustled softly as he parted the left lapel.

Anna suppressed a shiver when his warm fingers lightly brushed the very pale skin of her body.

Near her belly button still had that dark mark.

But it had eased up and was a more purplish color compared to the black it had been yesterday.

Mikoto gently touched his fingers to the blemished skin.

Anna jumped, as if startled by his touch, very much like a frightened rabbit.

Mikoto did not remove his fingers, but he did glance up at the standing girl.

"Sensitive?"

She nodded.

Mikoto sighed and drew back his hand, moving to grip her hip now. He dropped his cigarette into the ashtray and used his now free hand to take hold of her other hip through the soft cotton of his shirt that she was wearing on.

Abruptly, he pulled her to him and Anna let out a soft gasp, automatically bracing herself by gripping his broad shoulders. She was now standing between his legs with her knees touching the seat of Mikoto's armchair.

Mikoto wanted to have a better look at her bruised flesh.

Anna's cheeks reddened at his scrutiny, but she did not stop him or protest at his actions. He was her King after all and if he wanted to check her over himself to ensure she was alright then she felt that it was his right to do so.

It would take some time to heal and her skin would have that mar for a long time. Perhaps there were some creams on the market that would help get rid off the bruise.

Mikoto let her go and leaned against his armchair again with a soft huff.

Anna took a step back from him and began to redo the buttons of the shirt now.

"Mikoto," she voiced his name when she was finished.

His eyes flicked to hers.

Her own lowered slightly.

"I want to fight," she told him.

Mikoto narrowed his eyes.

"You mean you want an offensive position when we go out?" he questioned in a slow manner.

She nodded.

Mikoto sighed and picked up his cigarette from the ashtray.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Misaki could have died. If I took on a fighting stance-"

"You saved him," Mikoto cut in.

Anna stiffened.

Mikoto blew out some smoke. "You showed me the vision of what would have happened in the warehouse. Some of the needles went at his heart. That would have been fatal, Anna."

"But he still got hurt. What's the point of my power, if it can't stop anyone from getting hurt?" she demanded. Her tone was even, barely displaying her feelings.

However, Mikoto knew her well and he could hear a tremor in her voice. It was breaking her inside what had happened to their comrade.

After losing so many in her life, and coming close to losing Yata too was playing on her sanity.

Mikoto finished his cigarette and went for yet another one. As he took it out of his pack, he asked, "When was it ever that your power itself stopped anyone, Anna?"

Anna was stunned at his words and watched, dumbfounded as he lit his cigarette. After polluting the room once more with the dangerous tobacco infused smog, he lifted his hand and patted her head kindly. In a more gentle tone, he continued, "Your power gives the opportunity to change a person's fate. It is a type of guidance to them but it is up to them if they want to do something about it,"

Yes. That was true.

As with Tatara's case: even though he had been warned by Anna that he would not live for long if he remained at Mikoto's side, he chose not to leave Homra. It was something Anna had half-admired, half-hated him for.

And truthfully, she might have done the same thing had she been in the same position.

She had been very young when she had sensed Tatara's untimely death. Her power had not quite matured into having full blown visions. Perhaps if they had grown at that time, she might have been able to foresee when he would die so that they could stop it.

There were some circumstances in life that one just couldn't be helped, she supposed. Maybe some people's fates just could not be altered.

With Yata, Mikoto had gotten him away from the place he would have been fatally wounded, thus changing his destiny.

"Even though Yata was still attacked by the strain, the attack came from a different direction and he's still alive. We should be thankful for that much."

Anna nodded, understanding.

Mikoto stroked down the side of her head as if he was patting an animal.

He was fascinated by the way Anna instinctively snuggled her cheek deeper into his palm, very much like a pet.

Anna gasped when Mikoto suddenly caught her wrist and pulled her so that she fell into his lap. One of his strong arms curved around her shoulders as he gazed down at her with a strange look on his face.

He seemed...inquisitive.

Mikoto lifted his free hand and repeated the action of petting her which caused him to soothe some of her hair more against her cheek. She did not seem to mind for once more she curved her cheek into his palm.

She really was like a small animal.

A cute small animal.

Some things about this girl never changed.

Once more he did it and Anna blinked up at him but never pulled away.

Izumo chose to open the door at that moment. He was surprised to see Mikoto sitting in his armchair with Anna, who was wearing one his shirts while sitting on top of him. Her legs were crossed over his as he forced her to lean on her side against his chest. Her own hands lay daintily on her thighs.

Despite Anna's appearance as a beautiful young woman now, she still had a small stature and was a bit petite compared to their tall, handsome King.

They were both simply looking at each other like two curious animals.

Mikoto was like a big, ferocious lion who had suddenly become intrigued by the small, white little bunny who was sitting with him.

The bartender cleared his throat and the pair turned their heads simultaneously to see him.

Hiding a smile, he informed them, "Eric made some curry for lunch."

The king and his princess nodded.

After Izumo left, Mikoto allowed Anna to remove herself from him.

"Have you eaten?" he questioned.

She shook her head.

Mikoto stood up as well, towering above her as he looked down at her seriously.

Then he flicked his finger in the middle of her forehead. Her head recoiled slightly from his little tap and she lifted her hand to rub the red spot.

"Make sure that you do," he told her seriously.

"I will," she promised. First she needed to make a call to Seneca. Akemi and Kei were probably worried about her.

Mikoto grabbed a towel before heading to the bathroom to shower while Anna left to go to her own room.

* * *

"Spend the night," Akemi said to her friend as they video chatted through their respective PDAs.

"How come?" Anna questioned.

Akemi glared at her. "What you mean 'how come'?! I haven't seen you in days and suddenly I hear you're going to be staying in Shizume City and will only come to Seneca when you have to work and _then_ you'll be heading straight back home! I won't be able to spend any time with you. You're coming in for the evening shift today and then you have the morning shift tomorrow. Stay the night and go home tomorrow afternoon. We have so much catching up to do!"

Anna managed a very tiny smile, which surprised Akemi.

Things must be going well for the white haired female now for her to even manage to beam a little. This was a far cry from how she had been the last time Akemi had seen her in Seneca. She had been expressionless as ever, but had still given off the impression that she was upset, and that she had been a huge bundle of negative emotions.

"You're moving into Kei's apartment complex. I thought you might like spending more time with him. Alone," Anna told her quietly.

Akemi, who was in the kitchen of the maid cafe nearly sputtered out the water she had drunk from a bottle she had.

Behind her, Kei called out, "Hey! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" she assured him.

He hurried to her side and when he saw she was talking to Anna, he nudged his head against hers in order to have a better look at their friend who was so far away from them right now.

Grinning like an idiot, he exclaimed, "Anna! It's been so long, when are you coming over?!"

"Today."

"Really, well-"

"Hey, shove off!" Akemi snapped and pressed her palm into Kei's face, pushing him away. Knowing he would do something sadistic to her, she hurried off to the employee's ladies' bathroom where he would not be able to enter.

"I'll get you, Akemi!" he warned.

She stuck her tongue out at him from over her shoulder and nearly slammed headfirst into the the wall to the side of the bathroom's doorway. She managed to stop in time before she entered.

Then, locking herself in a stall to ensure that Kei did not snoop at the doorway, she hissed in a low tone at Anna, "What the hell, Anna?! I may like spending time with that idiot, but I wouldn't have it be at the cost of spending time with you!"

Anna believed her. Still, she continued, "Now Akemi will have lots of time with Kei,"

Akemi paused.

Then, on a serious tone she asked her, "You, Anna. How do you feel about that smartass, Kei?"

Anna blinked. Her mouth formed into a thin line.

"He is like my brother. I care for him very much."

"And me?"

"I care for Akemi as if you are my sister."

That was a touching thing to say.

"Then get your ass in Seneca if you care so damned much!"

Anna smiled softly after she hung up with Akemi.

Her friends were silly and fun and it was because of the time she spent with them when she was in Seneca that she had gotten some peace of mind that eased the grief she had felt from how much she had missed Homra and all her beloved people there.

Anna frowned when she saw a basket in the corner of her room that was getting filled up with laundry. She hadn't washed her clothes in days.

She picked up the basket and proceeded to find the washing machine.

A short time later, her PDA began to ring again and she recognized Natsume's number.

* * *

Mikoto could sleep anywhere.

In any position, even standing up.

After eating a huge meal of red curry and rice, he had yawned widely like a lazy beast and had found himself on the couch, lying down to take a nap as he had intended to do earlier.

That was how Anna had found him.

The King had chosen to wear on a long sleeved black t-shirt that had a V-shaped neckline. His necklaces shone out more brightly against the cloth of his clothing.

Perhaps he chose to wear this on today because it was extra chilly out. In addition, he wore on blue jeans with a pair of white socks that were covering his feet.

One hand was thrown across his face where the back it lay casually against his forehead. The other hand lay on his stomach for his arm was curved over himself.

Mikoto gave off breathy, refreshing waves. When she came to stand beside him, she could still catch the scent of soap on him which came from his bath.

"Mikoto," she called his name. She had to let him know that Natsume was coming.

Mikoto did not stir.

Anna sat down beside him.

She made sure to observe his facial features for any signs of distress from any nightmares. If she was going to wake him up then she needed to ensure that she did not startle him if he was having bad dreams. That would not be a good thing for her as he might accidentally end up attacking her.

Or Izumo's bar. The bartender would bawl like a baby and yell at Mikoto for that.

His red seemed to be it's regular, but beautiful color. This meant that he was just fine.

She lifted a hand and pressed it on his hard bicep, shaking slightly before calling his name once more.

He let out a huff before opening his eyes slightly. The golden irises peeked from under his eyelids at her before his hand that had been on his forehead shifted. The arm of his hand moved to lie at his side as his head turned to hers.

Mikoto seemed to still be half asleep.

Anna tilted her head to the side to see if he needed another little shake to get him going.

However, his arm moved again and caught her by the waist, pulling her down to him to that she fell against his hard chest with a soft gasp.

Her long white hair fell to the side and spilled over onto his body with his sudden motion.

Pressing her small palms against his chest, she pushed upward slightly to look at his handsome face.

Mikoto's large, warm hand shifted up her back and pressed gently into her hair.

"What's wrong?" he asked her in a voice that seemed to still be sleepy.

"Natsume-san is coming," she informed him.

Mikoto let out a quiet grunt as his fingers massaged into her hair, relaxing her bit. In fact, she was starting to feel sleepy.

It did not help that he now forced her head down to his so that he could nuzzle warmly at his favorite spot.

Mikoto had been right in saying that chaining his lustful side would help him be able to interact more with her without the trouble of having him suddenly become aroused.

Thus, they could resume some of their affectionate relationship. This did not mean that she could have it as much as she did when she had been a child. She still had to put limits on the amount of touching between them.

Anna tried to draw back, because there was something else important she had to tell him.

"Mikoto," she said his name as she tried to pull away.

She received a low growl from him and she felt his hot breath against her temple when she tried to remove herself from him.

He was acting the part of possessive, affectionate lion.

"Natsume-san is bringing some with her. It's-"

"Ah, what an interesting sight. When is the wedding, Suoh?" came the voice of Reisi Munakata.

* * *

There was not a blemish on a single one of the brilliant blue petals of the bouquet of flowers that was beside Yata's bedside.

Yesterday had been horrible and grueling for him. To have hundreds of needles pulled from his back had left him aching. He was also a bit embarrassed because Mikoto-san had been on the phone with Natsume-san to enquire about his health when the vanguard had let out a healthy screech of pain.

And it was not because of the needles that had been pulled from his back.

No, this was _after_ that terrible ordeal.

Yata had screamed because a tiny needle that was no bigger than a wasp's sting had entered his flesh in order to administer more antidote to his body that still had the poison.

Maybe some could claim that after the strain's attack on him, he would have gotten over his phobia of those piercings objects.

Ah, but that wasn't true in Yata Misaki's case.

In fact, needles just mortified him more than ever!

Oh, the poor skateboarder. Here he was, one of the most powerful men of the terrifying Red Clan, a world class skateboarder, afraid of a tiny needle!

How shameful.

Thank goodness Saruhiko Fushimi did not have knowledge about the vanguard's cry of terror at the feel of a tiny needle.

The bastard would never let his former friend live it down.

As for those flowers, who had they come from?

Well, from Fushimi himself.

They had been sent to him with Chie and Emi when they came to visit him in the hospital.

"_Are those for me? They're real pretty!" Yata exclaimed as he accepted them from Chie._

"_They're from your friend," Chie informed him._

_Yata was about to bury his nose in the flowers. _

"_Which friend?"_

"_Saruhiko."_

_Yata immediately threw the flowers away from him, as if they were searing hot coals. _

_Emi managed to catch them. _

"_Are you girls crazy? That sadistic bastard probably poisoned them! The fumes will kill me, choke me! Or maybe there are bees in them that gonna sting me-"_

"_You idiot," Chie snapped in annoyance. "Emi and I brought them to you and we're perfectly fine!"_

_Yata eyed the flowers hatefully. _

"_He put in some device that would allow them automatically respond to me and destroy me."_

_His expression was totally and completely serious when he said this. _

"_Misaki, you're being silly," Emi chided her boyfriend. She pulled out a card that was in the bunch of flowers and handed it to him. _

_Yata accepted it reluctantly._

_If his girlfriend hadn't been giving him such a meaningful look, he would have burned the card and the flowers and sent the ashes back to Fushimi. _

_**'Mi-sa-ki...how does it feel to be a pin cushion? My condolences to you, Virgin-san. It must have been a painful experience to have them go in, and then to have them plucked out.**** One by One****. Enjoy the flowers. And don't worry, they're not poisonous nor do they have bees or wasps, moron. Just think of them...and remember me, Mi-sa-ki!'**_

"These flowers come from the Boraginaceae family. They're supposed to mean 'true love'," Chie commented with a frown. Her boyfriend's obsession with the short fellow still disturbed her greatly.

Yata stiffened and glanced at them.

And proceeded to grab them and angrily tear their heads off and crush their blue petals in his hand.

Emi immediately caught his arm and struggled to stop him.

"Misaki, no! Fushimi sent this to you out of consideration! Perhaps he's trying to mend things between you both!" Emi protested.

For the first time ever, Yata used an angry tone with her as he growled, "Mend things?! Saru?! That bastard didn't send me those flowers because he loves me! It's because of the name they're given!"

Emi blinked at the flowers.

"But they're forget-me-nots."

Misaki gave a short snort as he tossed the flowers aside.

"Exactly."

* * *

_Fushimi grinned sadistically as he purchased the bouquet of flowers for his former best friend. Ah, 'forget-me-nots'...what a fitting name! Sure, Yata would probably tear them to pieces when he got them. But it was worth the yen to heckle the skateboarder because it was Fushimi's was of saying, 'Forget-me-not me not, Misaki! Keep me in your mind and hate me! Get stronger and come after me!'_

* * *

"What do you want, Munakata?" Mikoto demanded with a growl.

He still had Anna in his arms.

Even when she tried to draw back, his grip on her tightened for he was in no way ashamed of his affectionate relationship he had with the girl.

And it wasn't any of the Blue King's business anyway.

Behind the blue king, Yuki Natsume entered. She smiled at everyone.

Anna nodded to her while Mikoto's attention remained on his fellow King.

Munakata snorted and lifted his hand, adjusting his glasses in the middle. Somehow, the light caught on the lenses and reflected on them as he shifted them.

"Perhaps Kushina-chan was playing around a little too much with you, Suoh. Otherwise she would have been able to let you know that I was on my way."

Mikoto sat up with Anna still held against him.

Before he released her, she could feel heat rising from his body, like a mix of anger and excitement at the sight of his rival and fellow King.

Indeed, Munakata was one of the few who could keep up with Mikoto in a verbal or physical battle.

Slowly, Mikoto's arms were removed from her. He shifted from behind her so that he could sit up properly and recline against the couch.

"Ah? And what business do you have here, Munakata?"

Natsume pushed past Munakata now.

"I'm sorry about this, Mikoto. I let Anna know a short while ago that we were both on our way. I am here to give you an update on the strain and have a look over at Anna. Munakata wanted to let you know a few things about him personally and I think he has something for Anna too. Don't you, Munakata-san?"

Munakata nodded and lifted up something.

Izumo had come into the bar at the same time at the sound of strange voices.

Everyone watched as Munakata held out a bouquet of white, pretty flowers to Anna. Amongst them in an ordered pattern were several red blossoms. The stems of the two types of flowers were gathered into a thick green bunch, held together by a large red ribbon. The small white flowers that were spread at the top were heavily sprinkled despite them being significantly smaller than the red ones.

They were baby's breath and red carnations.

Izumo and Natsume turned their attention from Anna to Mikoto to see what his reaction would be to Munakata giving Anna flowers.

* * *

_A long time ago, a little girl got sick with the flu. As she lay on her bed, sleeping from the side effects of her medicine, someone very dear to her went out into the cold winter snow to get her something to cheer her up._

_That person was Tatara._

_The unfortunate soul who had been dragged along to get the flowers with him was Fushimi Saruhiko._

_Yes, the often grouchy, serious faced young man had been coerced into finding himself in a pretty little florist's shop, surrounded by roses and begonias._

_It was just so...out of place._

"_Ah, look here! I think these are perfect!" Tatara commented enthusiastically. Tatara was as cheerful as Fushimi was grim. _

_Fushimi merely glanced at the pot that had a plant bearing tiny white flowers on them. _

"_They're white," Fushimi pointed out._

_It was obvious that Anna would like red flowers more. It was only common sense to get her something that filled some kind of color in her grey and white world. _

"_I don't disagree with you, but I think Anna will appreciate it for it's meaning," Tatara told him with unexpected maturity. _

_Fushimi blinked. "What?"_

_Tatara shot him a happy grin. _

"_The flowers. They mean innocence and purity. That's exactly what she is in a clan who uses so much violence."_

_Fushimi tsked._

_He still believed red flowers would have been better._

_His eyes fell upon some small red blossoms. "What about these?" _

_Tatara glanced at them. "Perhaps they're a bit unsuitable for a child. Red normally falls along the lines of passion and love."_

_Fushimi clicked his tongue in annoyance. Here we was giving suggestions and the laughing fool with him decided that flower meanings were more important than the flowers themselves!_

_However, Tatara did suddenly seem to be a bit more interested. He smiled widely then and enthusiastically, he declared, "We'll get both baby's breath and red carnations!"_

"_But you said-"_

"_Red carnations normally mean deep romantic love in western cultures so the combination of baby's breath which is associated with innocence is another way of saying 'innocent' love. Anna's love is innocent and pure," Tatara explained with a calm, warm smile. It made the weakest member of Homra look oddly older than he really was. _

_In fact, Fushimi had rarely ever seen the constant companion of the red clan's little girl smile like that. Sure, the grin rarely disappeared from the idiot's face and he seemed immune to depression, but there were certain quiet smiles that Tatara had reserved for certain members of the clan. _

_This one which was gentle and brotherly-like was the smile from Tatara that Anna alone received._

* * *

_Anna was in no way disappointed by her gift from Tatara._

_She welcomed them with opened arms and widened eyes, along with slightly red cheeks. There was no denying the small child's happiness._

_And in the sick world she had been in for the last couple of days, this combination of colored and colorless flowers still brightened her day._

* * *

Mikoto did not show any outward reaction to the flowers but he did seem to become annoyed by the way his mouth dropped into a lopsided frown.

Anna hesitated.

"It's not from me, it's from Fushimi," Munkata informed her.

Anna blinked and reached out her hands and accepted them.

Their former comrade had remembered that time she was sick and he and Tatara had gone out to get her flowers.

No matter how much Fushimi denied it, it did not change the fact that he a big heart.

"He also said to tell you to try to stay out of trouble."

Anna made a soft sound of agreement as she accepted the flowers and held her to them. These sent her back to that day when the room had been too hot one minute, then too cold. Then she started to see things and dream things in her past that she never wished to see again. Those nightmares were bad experiences she had been reliving in her sleep.

And then, someone was calling her name.

And she opened her eyes to the fresh, beautiful scent of baby's breath and red carnation flowers.

Currently, Izumo fought hard not to slap a hand to his face at the sight of Mikoto's reaction to the flowers.

After informing Anna that they had been from Fushimi, Mikoto had simply placed a cigarette in his mouth and lit it, as if receiving a gift from Fushimi was boring and insignificant.

Did Mikoto truly feel no jealousy at all?

That the one girl he truly desired had received flowers from a another man?

Instead, Mikoto simply decided to taunt his fellow King.

"You're playing messenger boy today, Munakata?" he queried before he took a casual drag from his cigarette.

Munakata was not bothered by the Red King's words.

"Fushimi was coming to give those flowers to Kushina-chan but he was called away for an unexpected assignment with my Vice Commander. I offered to bring them in for her."

"How is Awashima-san?" Izumo asked.

"She's doing quite well," Munakata replied although his eyebrows furrowed slightly, betraying some of his emotions that were akin to frustration. "she was coming as well and had intended to bring you a cake."

Izumo frowned.

"A cake?" he repeated.

Munakata nodded. However, he was not one to divulge into the absolute _horrors_ of what went on his clan with other clansmen and decided to change the topic.

However, before he could do so, Izumo still questioned, "Ah...what exactly was the kind of cake she made?"

"A red velvet cake. Now-"

"Filled with red bean paste," Izumo finished off with a disturbed look on his face.

Munakata sighed before nodding. Well, he wouldn't say it was filled with red bean paste. More like the cocoa in the recipe had been substituted with red beans in order to 'give it a natural red color'. And when the batter still did not seem red enough for Seri's liking, she simply added more red bean. She had also filled the centre of it with even more of the sweet stuff.

Interestingly, the cake had turned brownish green.

Not even purple or a strange shade of orange that fell close to the color red on the kaleidoscope.

No, the cake had become an ugly, mushy shade of _green_.

It was utterly shameful to admit that his own Vice Commander had no real cooking qualifications.

Not only that, her obsession with anko blinded her to the fact that not everyone shared the same kind of love for the pasty stuff.

"Well, I think it's quite delightful although I haven't had any yet," Munakata told him in an attempt to save some face.

"You ran away here," Mikoto commented.

Munakata shot Mikoto a narrow eyed look.

"I did not run away!" he couldn't help but snap.

Really, if there was one man out there who could rile up the Blue King's temper, it was Mikoto Suoh. The bastard was so damned..._snarky_!

"Hm? Is that so? I suppose it's really damned important for you to take time away from your precious paperwork in order to come here and personally let me know the issue with the strain."

Munakata opened his mouth to speak but Izumo continued speaking in place of Mikoto now, "He's right. You could have just called us. I thought the Blue Clan's use of the most modern technology would meant that they always had the latest communication devices on hand. I also suppose that you couldn't have gone along with Fushimi and Seri as your power probably wasn't needed," Izumo grinned now, "it would have been painfully obvious that you were avoiding Seri's cake! Shame on you Munakata-san!"

Munakata wanted very badly to lop their heads off with his sword.

But he was in their legal territory and therefore had no right to intimidate them on their turf. It would also make him, who strived to keep some level of civil relations with the Red Clan, a big hypocrite.

"My subordinates will take care of the cake," Munakata informed them, still a bit miffed that he had been caught.

Munakata had been more than willing to destroy the cake and put it out of their misery but one stupid _ass_...Hidaka was his name, said he would have felt badly.

_The cake sat on the counter in the spacious kitchen of Scepter 4's kitchen. It was brilliantly large and gloriously covered in cream cheese frosting. Oh, and Awashima had been considerate enough to add some blue coloring to the frosting so that the cake would have some blue on it as they were the blue clan. _

_Munakata had stood in the doorway, observing that...that **behemoth** of a cake. His comrades had not quite realized he was standing there behind them yet._

_Oh, Munakata was going to get rid off that thing once everyone left-_

"_Look, we have destroy it," Akiyama was arguing with the other men in there. There were several blue clan men, including Andy, Enomoto and Hidaka. _

_There were several murmurs of agreement. _

"_We can't!" Hidaka argued. "Awashima made this especially for us!"_

_Disagreements arose and before Munakata could step in and say anything, someone suggested, "Since Hidaka doesn't want to destroy it, let him eat it!"_

_That was when Munakata decided that he wanted no part in this situation._

_He wouldn't touch that cake with a ten foot pole and he was quite sure that his clansmen would expect him to uphold his sense of morality and eat some of the damned thing just to please his second in command._

_Well, since he wasn't going to destroy it (in plain sight of anyone), and if his subordinates weren't going to either, then he was going to get the heck out of here and let them handle the situation before anyone saw him!_

"You don't know what it's like to eat six boxes of anko filled chocolate on Valentine's Day," Munakata muttered as he recalled that horrifying incident.

The first few chocolates hadn't been too bad, but to have Awashima's eyes on him expectantly-eyes that brimmed with respect-he had forced himself to eat more just to please her.

Izumo overheard him and chuckled quietly.

He had his own share of bad stories concerning Seri's cooking with red bean paste. The difference between himself and Munakata was that he was not obligated to be kind about his disgust for the damned stuff.

Not that that meant he was in any way anything less than a gentleman toward her if she gave him anything with it.

As long as she never insisted he add any cocktails to list that were made of red bean paste.

That would be an insult to his establishment and every customer he served that hideous brew to.

"Perhaps you could kindly inform us about the strain now?" Izumo suggested.

Munakata nodded and sat opposite Mikoto and Anna while Natsume came to sit on the other side of the same couch.

"Perhaps you should go first, Natsume-san," the Blue King suggested in a very diplomatic manner.

Natsume nodded.

"Very well. I spoke to the strain and he basically confirmed to me what Munakata has informed me about him telling you of his past. Takeshi was threatening to take away his little sister as well."

"He harmed Yata and Anna," Mikoto reminded her quietly.

Indeed, Mikoto did have a big heart which he did not always display. He could be kind without showing it strangers but when it came to his clansmen, he could become an enraged, protective lion. This strain, despite his sad past, did cause serious damage to his vanguard and his princess. The Red King was outraged at this, even if he did not show it.

Because these were his precious people who stood by his side. These were the people who gave him peace in his heart when his power rioted inside of him.

Anna carefully slid her hand into his. Mikoto stiffened, as if startled and turned his attention to hers.

Her small face was tilted upward, looking up at him with her large gray eyes.

"But it's not his fault. It was Takeshi's-he pushed him to it," she reminded him.

The small stroking movements of Anna's thumb on the warm skin of the back of his hand somehow allowed his heart to calm down a bit.

He released a sigh.

She was right.

If he had been in that strain's position and those whom he loved were being threatened, then he might have acted the same way.

Fought tooth and nail for whoever, no matter the reason, just to protect his precious ones.

"I've already agreed to take Sora into custody. He will stand a fair trial."

"And Takeshi?" Mikoto demanded.

"He's in the custody of the Gold King. More than likely he will get a life sentence."

Mikoto did not say anything on that.

But he would have a rare discussion with that old man Daikaku.

And he would perhaps pay Takeshi a _personal_ visit.

Munakata stood up now. There was no other reason for him to be here any longer and he was quite sure that awful cake had not been completely devoured yet. In fact, his subordinates probably saved him a piece just to see if he would show any outward reaction to a taste of sickeningly sweet, somewhat burnt, brownish-green cake that was supposed to be a red velvet cake made out of red bean paste.

There was no getting away from the inevitable.

He sighed before bidding everyone farewell.

"Poor guy," Izumo remarked after the Blue King left.

Everyone nodded.

Mikoto spoke then. He wanted an update on his vanguard.

"Yata. How is he?" he questioned Natsume.

"He's perfectly fine. He should be out soon," Natsume explained and let them know about his progress with the antidote.

"What about the strain, Mikoto? I can fight for you to take custody of him, if that's what you want," Natsume informed him.

He shrugged as he smoked his cigarette.

"He's not the problem. The Blues will take care of him and his family I suppose."

Natsume nodded. Everyone, including Anna, was aware that Mikoto would be having a chat with the Gold King as the person who was responsible for harming his precious clansmen was in his custody. Sora, the strain, was a victim as well.

Natsume turned her attention to Anna and smiled.

"You look rather lovely today," she remarked. She was referring to Anna's choice of clothing.

Anna blushed a little.

She didn't know what to say, but Natsume did not press her for any information. She could sense the younger female had found some sort of peace within her clansmen for she seemed quietly contented at the moment.

This was very different from the rioting emotions Natsume had felt coming from the clan's princess in recent weeks. It was like she had been on the edge of a cliff, trying hard not to fall off and desperately trying to hold on.

Well, Mikoto and Izumo must have had a chat with her for her to finally calm down. This pleased Natsume.

Although Anna's actions recently did not.

"You were up to quite a lot recently, Anna," Natsume said to her.

Anna's head lowered. Indeed, she was ashamed.

Natsume released a sigh.

"Only I know about what you were up to. Not even Ryosuke or Haru are aware. Even if you are a red clansman, they would not hesitate to punish you and your friends for your mischief. You might be granted some favor as you our clansmen, but I can't say that they wouldn't hesitate to suspend you or expel your friends."

Anna stiffened at that.

There really had been dire consequences to their actions. Akemi technically had nowhere to go without Seneca due to her family circumstances. Kei as well, only he at least had his brother's support.

Maybe he might have been forced to leave and stay with his parents abroad? That would have been very sad.

"I assume that Mikoto and Izumo have already settled for a decent punishment for you," Natsume continued.

Anna paused.

Did they?

Well, she had been locked in Mikoto's room for two days.

Natsume released a sigh.

"You're technically an adult as you are a Type D strain, Anna, but do try to remember that in human terms you are still considered a teenager so your actions well be judged as that of a teenager. Health-wise, it seems you are doing fine. My power tells me that you're stronger and the antidote has done it's job. I would still like to take some blood samples from you to make certain."

Anna nodded and Natsume opened a medical kit she had brought with her.

"Thank goodness Yata-chan isn't here," Izumo chuckled when Natsume pulled out a long needle to draw blood.

Natsume had Anna lay her right arm on the armrest of the couch before she applied a tourniquet. Anna's skin was so pale and therefore it was not difficult to locate a vein on the girl. She remained blank faced, even as Natsume stuck a needle in.

Mikoto knew that Anna may seem to be fine, but the way the fingers of her left hand curled on her lap suggested that she was not pleased to have that object pressed inside of her.

But the procedure was quick and Natsume packed away the blood and her equipment while asking, "I assume nothing happened last night? It isn't that difficult for me to test for pregnancy as well."

Anna's cheeks went red while Mikoto huffed in annoyance.

"Nothing happened," Anna assured her.

Natsume did not pause, even as she sensed that there was a tremor in Anna's heart. The girl was lying, but Mikoto seemed to be unaffected in any kind of way, as if nothing at all had really happened.

This was strange.

However, Natsume knew her limits. She would not question this. There were certain matters she handled with Anna and others her clansmen dealt with. If there was a reason for Anna to hide this, Natsume would not pry for this was between the King and his princess.

Natsume snapped her medical kit shut. She merely smiled at Anna.

"I suppose that everything is alright here as well. You discussed everything with the bank statements with Izumo?" Natsume continued.

Anna blinked.

"Bank statements?" she repeated and glanced over at her guardian.

He nearly stumbled as he was about to place a bottle of wine on a particularly high shelf.

"Ah...we didn't talk about that, did we?" he remarked and threw her a smile over her shoulder.

Anna turned to Mikoto who was sitting at her side, still smoking quietly.

"What are they talking about?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "It's how we found out what you were up to."

"Kei didn't tell you?"

"He did," Mikoto replied slowly, "but he only confirmed what we already knew."

Anna's mouth formed into a straight line.

They had already known?

"Perhaps I ought to leave you to discuss this," Natsume suggested and patted Anna's head. She bowed to Mikoto politely as he was her King. After having Anna promise to come back to Seneca soon, she left through the door.

Izumo picked up a glass that had a speck of dust that was just begging to be wiped off.

"A bank statement basically gives a list of all your transactions from your deposits to your withdrawals. I got the one that came from the account I originally opened for you in Seneca, warning me that they were going to close it because it was inactive."

Anna understood then. So they would have obviously gotten suspicious because if she had a job and she received a cheque, where did she deposit all her money?

"I got it recently, around the time you got that bruise, Anna. After Mikoto told me about what had happened to your face, we became concerned. I did some investigation and we were able to get a hold of your transactions from the account you use that is under your name. You were getting paid in some hefty sums of money, either by it being wired from another account, or by cash deposits. We were able to find out that much of those funds was coming from the police department. The only reason why you would get that money from the police in Seneca is if you captured wanted criminals."

Anna remained silent for a moment.

"Why didn't you just ask me?" she queried. It did upset her that they had pried into her private financial information.

"You're still a teenager getting deposits of money that are larger than some salary men's. Don't you think we'd be worried?"

Anna was quiet.

"We didn't know what kind of trouble you were in," Mikoto put in without looking at her.

The irritated feeling in Anna died down.

She had brought this upon herself anyway. They had just been doing what they thought was right. It was understandable that they thought she might have gotten involved with the wrong people and was too afraid to come to them.

She had been the one hiding things from them in the first place. They were concerned enough to find out for themselves what she was concealing since she couldn't come to them.

Even though it turned out that she was not in trouble with the wrong people, she was doing something dangerous and they had come in time. Had they not, she might have been dead or worse.

"I understand," she told Izumo and he nodded.

* * *

Yata grumpily eyed the case of forget-me-nots on his bedside. Emi had insisted on salvaging some of the flowers that had not been ruined. Yata was annoyed to have to see those wretched things right beside him.

As he lay on his stomach on his bed, he thought back on the times when Saruhiko Fushimi was his good friend-his best friend. If they had still been friends like that, then being given those flowers by his friend might have disturbed him (because no one ever gave him flowers, much less a guy), but he would have appreciated them for they had come from someone important to him.

To think that instead he would rather see the demise of these flowers for they were from his most hated enemy.

Still, some part of Yata was glad that not all the flowers had been ruined but were safely set on his bedside.

* * *

_**A/N: I gave a little summary of how Mikoto and Izumo found out about Anna's activities. I hope it helped clarify for anyone who hadn't understood before. I was supposed to do about two chapters ago but I completely forgot. **_

_***Also, I based the flower meanings on western cultural meanings from wikipedia. I think the Japanese flower meanings are a bit similar in some cases, but not for all the flowers. **_

_**Thank you, all of you who follow, review and favorite this story.**_

**For those who reviewed:**

**DaniZaraki: Hi there, and thanks for reviewing :) I'm pleased you liked the comparisons and I'm glad to know that you like this story so much :)**

**AngelGirl0200: I'm sorry! And I'm so sorry for being late on this chapter as well! The passionate side of Mikoto may show up again ;)**

**Wonderful Reminiscence: You did? If you don't mind me asking, what was your username before (you don't have to tell me because I do know that sometimes a person may change their username for privacy reasons). Thanks for thinking so highly of this fic and that you really enjoy all those memories of Anna and the others :) I love Hakuouki too, as well as Okita. I also loved Harada a lot too :) Yes, the last chapter of MOR was so saddening. And Gora always writes, 'This is a story of happiness'...I'm still trying to figure out if they meant that only a _part_ of the story was supposed to be happy. **

**LadyCassie: I'm glad you liked the dreamworld scene. I chose Benny because it was such a simple and easy to remember name :)**

**creativeactive: No, not quite yet they won't be having any sex :) Perhaps she will marry before they have sex, and maybe they will have the baby ;)**

**Anon: I'm glad you liked those parts. I wasn't sure if anyone really understood who exactly Freud was :)**

**friedchicken: Thanks :)**

**Flower 117: Perhaps Kei will eventually realize his feelings ;) I'm glad you think I wrote in Mikoto's struggles very well :) Yes, the last MOR chapter was so sad! I saw those moments in the chapter. I always wondered what Mikoto and Anna had done after Izumo informed Mikoto that Tatara had died because it was just her and Mikoto in the bar. Now I know. It really was beautiful. On the other hand, did you see the poster for Mikoto's birthday? Some people on tumblr have put it up and Mikoto is looking Anna with a lot of warmth in that poster. It's really sweet :)**

**LindyLinn: Yes, I gave them a bit of screen time :) I'm pleased you liked the chapter and that Izumo made you laugh :)**

**Arius the Heretic: I'm glad that you liked how they resolved their issues and the funny parts with Yata and Izumo. Thanks and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)**

**princessforeveralone: Oh, you will see that side of Mikoto again ;) I'm sorry to hear you failed your music test. It happened to me in High School as well because my teacher was kinda lame. It's excellent that you aced arts and computer science. Congratulations! Good luck with the rest of exams. It sounds tough but be strong and try your best to pull through. It's alright if you can't review. When you have the time you can do so :) **

**kuronekousako: I'm pleased you've enjoyed the last two chapters, especially all the kissing etc. that went on between Anna and Mikoto. Hope you also enjoyed this chapter :)**

**Ashley: Yeah, I started since May I believe. I'm glad you managed to find it and it makes me happy that you're enjoying it! No way will I kill off Yata! I love him too much! His relationship with Fushimi is kinda amusing. I also got depressed with the manga. I don't get why they keep saying 'This is a story of happiness...' when it ends in sadness :'(**

**_Thanks again, everyone. Please let me know your thoughts on the chapter. _  
**

**_God bless :)_**


	21. Izumo?

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**A/N: PLEASE READ! This chapter contains a small SPOILER for chapter 15 of memory of red. I read a translation of it on the tumblr of capioilla. You can check through the tags in tumblr and see if you get a link for the raws in them. **_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 21: Izumo...?**_

The bar was quiet, save for the chink of ice in the glass that belonged to a customer who sat alone in a corner.

The customer was a middle aged man who often came into Homra in hopes of catching a glimpse of the pretty young woman with long white hair. The female did not seem be there quite often enough for the customer's liking but he did still hope to see her whenever he came by.

She was so...pretty.

Pretty, pretty like a fairy.

White hair, sweet mouth and eyes that sometimes reflected red.

What a strange girl she was!

Ah, but so beautiful.

Well, this particular patron was quite content to sit in the corner and sip his drink as he watched her silently.

Anna was still wearing on Mikoto's shirt as she picked up some plates from a nearby table. As it was not really busy and there was some work to be done around the bar, she did not bother to change into anything better.

Eric was in the same section as her, sweeping up.

Izumo was making a drink for Mikoto who was sitting at the counter.

"I don't get it," Izumo sighed as he set the bourbon in front of Mikoto.

"What are you talking about?" Mikoto asked with quite a bit if disinterest as he lifted his glass.

"You," Izumo responded.

Mikoto paused before he sipped from his glass. He glanced at his friend.

"Me?" he repeated.

Izumo nodded. "Yes, you," The bartender proceeded to replace the bottle of bourbon he had poured Mikoto's drink from onto a nearby shelf. "Anna got flowers from Fushimi and you don't even care."

"Am I supposed to?" Mikoto queried. Irritation was laced in his tone for it was obvious that such a topic posed no significance to him.

He drank from his glass.

"Yes it is!" Izumo snapped. "What if he lures Anna away with flowers?!"

"Anna is loyal to us," Mikoto reminded him and shrugged. Just why was his friend getting so worked up over this? Over flowers of all things?

Besides, Anna wasn't a puppy who could be baited away easily from them.

The bartender glanced over to Anna who was still collecting plates from around the bar. Ensuring that he spoke lowly enough for only Mikoto to hear, he hissed, "I meant that he could seduce her away from you!"

Mikoto shot Izumo an annoyed look before he went back to drinking.

Izumo snorted. "You don't care at all?"

"I don't, so stop trying to force me and Anna to be together."

Izumo smirked then and nodded at the scene that was unfolding before.

Anna had set all the plates she had collected aside onto one table. She would move them to the kitchen soon. What she wanted to do was clean a particular window that she found had a few dusty spots.

However, it was too high for her so she moved a chair and attempted to reach up and clean it. Meanwhile, the patron who had been eying Anna had decided to give in a bit and try to touch her backside. He got up and went behind Anna.

No one could see what he was doing anyway.

At least that was what he thought.

"Wait," Izumo whispered to Mikoto whose eyes narrowed and had begun to glow red.

Eric had been keeping an eye on the man for he had found the customer watching Anna a little to carefully for his liking.

When Anna's back turned and the guy reached out his filthy hand to touch her, Eric grabbed his arm and shot him a glare that reminiscent of that of an angry dog.

The man became terrified and after a mumbled apology, he dropped some cash and scurried out. Anna had turned around in time to see the man say he was sorry before hurrying away. She blinked as she watched him go.

Eric glared after him before he turned his attention to her and gave her a small smile. He offered her his hand to help her down from the chair.

She accepted it.

"If Anna was really a princess, Eric could pass for a prince. Don't you think?"

Mikoto faced forward again as he lifted up his glass of bourbon once more.

"Footman," Mikoto told him.

"Eh?"

"Eric is her footman," he explained. The last time Anna had been cleaning windows, Eric had helped her down then as well.

"If you don't want Anna for yourself then I'm sure Eric will. He is princely, no matter what you say!"

"Pimp," Mikoto muttered.

"Hey! How can you say that?!"

"You're trying to marry a sixteen year old girl off to the first guy you see."

"Marriage is different from prostitution! And Eric's been with us for years!"

Mikoto's response was a sigh.

Seeing as his friend quieted down, Izumo decided to continue on the topic, "Or how about Kamamoto?"

Mikoto shrugged uncaringly.

Izumo tsked, "But then that mightn't be a great idea. His childhood friend's too sweet on him. It would break her heart. Yata, Chitose, Shohei and Dewa are all taken and Bando...he's just no good. Kosuke's love is animals so the most logical choice is Eric."

Mikoto's eyebrows clinched slightly.

"I don't care to hear your ramblings," he growled.

"You should," Izumo told him, irritated. "especially if you don't know whose child she's going to have!"

Mikoto frowned.

"What the hell are you talking about, Izumo?"

The bartender paused. "She didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Izumo smiled carefully then. "About the vision she had."

Mikoto was clearly confused.

"It was on the day we went to see Chitose's son. She said she had a vision when she had held Tamotsu in her arms. She said she saw a very vague glimpse of the future where she was speaking to an older Tamotsu and in her arms was a baby. She was telling Tamotsu that he was the child's protector."

"I see."

At least he now had an idea of one of the reasons as to why all that baby talk had come up with her on that evening. It wasn't just because she had been holding Chitose's son, or that they had both relived the memory of when Anna's mother had been pregnant with her unborn sibling.

It was because Anna herself had seen a glimpse of the future with a child in her arms.

"Aren't you worried about who the kid's father is?" Izumo demanded.

"I'd be more concerned about who its mother is."

Izumo blinked.

"Obviously it's Anna, Mikoto. Why else would she be asking the son of one your strongest clansmen to protect the child?"

"She didn't say if it was hers or not."

Well, that was true.

Izumo turned away and absently picked up a glass to polish. Polishing glass was a way of calming his frustrations.

"Maybe the father has yet to be decided," he remarked.

"What do you mean, Izumo?" Mikoto demanded, suspicious now.

Izumo smiled again and showed all his teeth. "Maybe the baby is Anna's but the fate of who its father is hasn't been decided yet."

"Stupid, how do you make a kid without a father first?"

"I think maybe it's possible that we can choose who Anna's husband and the father of her child should be. I think Eric is a good choice," Izumo continued as if he hadn't heard Mikoto speak.

Mikoto let out a sigh, as if he was really tired and weary of this talk.

Izumo chuckled thoughtfully, "Ah, perhaps not. I remember Kosuke mentioning that our golden haired boy had expressed some interest in a girl recently so he's out. Everyone's taken...except _me_."

Mikoto's eyes shot to his friend's.

Ah, now I've got his attention, Izumo thought gleefully.

Smirking he continued to speak, "Anna did tell me recently that I've always been there for her quite a lot. Maybe our love can blossom into something else."

"Dirty old man," Mikoto said and picked up his glass of bourbon. While he may sound and seem unaffected, his actions spoke loudly for instead of sipping the bourbon now, he swallowed it all in one go.

"Oh come now, Mikoto. Do you think you're the only guy who's ever cuddled with her?" Izumo couldn't help but taunt.

Izumo was playing with fire here (possibly literally as Mikoto could easily burn him to ashes with his power). He sensed a shift in his king's mood. First it had been bored and uncaring, then irritated, then irked and now a strange sense of calm seemed to come over the red head.

Like the calm before a storm.

"What do you mean?" Mikoto asked slowly.

"That night, Mikoto, when Munakata stabbed you with his sword and you were in the hospital. Anna was traumatized. Her power let her see how he stabbed you and she had nightmares about it, over and over again."

That had been more than five years ago, and yet Mikoto became consumed with guilt for the sorrow he had caused her.

_Izumo had been sleeping in the couch in his apartment. He had let Anna have his big bed. Sure he could have shared the bed with her but somehow it didn't feel right. The only male Anna ever sometimes fell asleep with was Mikoto. _

_Now that person was in the hospital, nursing a near fatal wound._

_Izumo was about to turn on his side on the couch and try to make himself comfortable but he suddenly heard sobbing._

_It came from his room._

_Dashing out of the couch, he hurried over to the bedroom and upon opening it, he saw Anna tossing and turning._

_She was weeping._

_He hastened to her side and sat down beside her._

_Touching her shoulder, he found her white skin as cold as ice. Worriedly, he reached out to shake her awake._

_But to his shock, he found himself surrounded by red flames as figures began to draw up of what Anna's nightmares were. It seemed that she had just lost control of her power and now he was observing what she was seeing. _

**_Bright red blood pouring on pure white snow._**

**_A sad expression on the face of their King and yet the almost sense of peace that he had yearned for. _**

**_And yet, regret because he would no longer be able to see his clansmen._**

**_That he wouldn't be able to protect Anna anymore. _**

_Izumo was shaken by what he saw. _

"_Izumo," a weak voice whispered._

_It was Anna. Her face was wet with tears. The reliving of that nightmare was over...for now. _

_Izumo reached down and hugged her tightly to him. _

"_It's alright, Anna, he's fine. We got him to the hospital in time," he assured her as he rocked her in his arms, half trying to convince himself that it was true-Mikoto would be alright. _

_But what scared him the most was the fact that Mikoto had **wanted** to die. He had been willing to end his life in order to no longer be burdened by his power. Izumo had been aware of just how much suffering that power had caused their King but now to actually know in his final moments that he had longed for death...it made Izumo sad. _

_But Izumo also knew something else as well._

_Mikoto in his final moments could have died. Even when they had gotten him to the hospital, he could have faded away._

_But for some reason, he held on._

_He had wanted to live. _

"_This guy's a fighter. He's trying hard to live," the medic had told Izumo as they had rushed him off in the ambulance._

_Yes, he was trying his very best to not die and leave them all behind._

* * *

"I fell asleep with her too and when I woke up, she was cuddled like a little kitten with me," Izumo told him. She had been curled up in a little ball at his side and his arms were still around her. It seemed that she had slept peacefully with Izumo.

Oh, Izumo was heckling his King alright and he was probably going to get his ass burned for it.

Getting a beast jealous would have serious repercussions.

But it was worth it.

Mikoto tsked.

"Don't go after young girls, you pervert," Mikoto told him and moved to stand.

Anna approached them with the pile of plates in her arms. She set it atop the counter. Just then, Izumo reached out and touched a strand of her hair.

"Anna, you look quite beautiful today," he informed her and gave a sweet, warm smile that made the ladies melt.

But not this young lady.

Her eyes remained completely blank on him.

In fact, her entire face was blank of any emotion.

Normally, this expressionlessness did not mean that there was nothing going on in her mind. She usually had lots of thoughts going on in her head.

But this was the first time she ever actually got so surprised that her thoughts were truly blank. Just what was up with Izumo?!

Anna glanced to her left when she sensed something amiss.

It was Mikoto. He did not show it but she could sense he was seething inside.

"You," he growled at Izumo. "come with me."

He came around the counter like a lion who was ready to fight with another member of its pride. Izumo could almost see him growling and snarling.

"Wait, Mikoto-"

However, he was cut off when Mikoto caught him by the neck with one arm and dragged him to the back.

Anna watched on, confused.

* * *

Izumo managed an awkward smile even after Mikoto shoved him against the wall in the storage room. Even when Mikoto slammed his palm into the wall beside his head, Izumo managed to maintain some composure although he felt a drop of sweat slide down the back of his head.

"Just what the hell are you playing at, Izumo?" Mikoto demanded.

Izumo lifted his hands in protest, "Look, it's nothing! I'm not interested in Anna that way! I'm her legal guardian and I do have someone else you know!"

"I know that, asshole. I just want to know why you did it."

Izumo let out a sigh and Mikoto stepped back from him. He lit a cigarette. Izumo did the same. Just like that, they were comrades again.

"You seemed almost worried there, Mikoto," Izumo commented.

"I didn't ask you that. Why were you hitting on Anna?"

Izumo let out a stream of smoke.

"I just wanted to see if you would get jealous over her. I know you want her, Mikoto. I see it every time you look at her and we both know she loves you very much. I've already given you permission to marry her when she turned sixteen. Why do you still act like there's nothing between you two? There's no need to pretend there isn't anymore."

Mikoto let out an annoyed breath.

"Five years ago, you said sixteen was too young for her marry," Mikoto recalled. "why did you change your mind?"

Izumo smiled again. Only this time, it was a bit sad and perhaps even somewhat bitter.

"Because after Tatara died, I realized how short life is. Then you came close to going as well, and even Anna when those guys from the Rise came after her. I think Anna has the maturity to be a wife and I know you will protect her. You're accepting enough of each other to put up with each other's flaws to build a healthy relationship," Izumo looked at his friend now and Mikoto could see the trust he had in him reflected in his eyes, "I can't ask for a better man than you for Anna and I can't think of a better woman than Anna for you. Why hold off on something that should be put together instead of waiting? Life is too short, Mikoto."

Mikoto huffed. It was so unlike Izumo to be so impatient and for Mikoto to be the patient one.

"When she's older."

"Huh?"

Mikoto's golden eyes glanced meaningfully at his friend.

It slowly dawned on Izumo then what Mikoto meant.

"You mean you will? But when?"

Mikoto shrugged at that.

Izumo smiled now, a warm happy smile. He began to understand a little better now why Mikoto hadn't done anything with Anna quite yet.

"You don't want to feel like you're robbing the cradle so you want to get used to her being more grown up now and when you think you're ready to accept that you'll make our move."

Mikoto made a quiet grunt, indicated that this was his plan.

It did surprise the bartender that his longtime friend seemed to have actually given a lot of thought to his situation with Anna. He was even willing to marry her. Mikoto didn't seem like the marrying kind but if one really looked at the way he and Anna interacted, they seemed very much like a married couple. Mikoto himself must have acknowledged that and seemed to believe that things would work out well with them if they eventually became legally wed.

* * *

Anna's hand dropped from the knob of the door that led to the storage room. She had heard some of their conversation from when Mikoto had asked Izumo why he wanted to marry Anna to him when she was only sixteen.

Her heart was beating faster.

Probably even skipping beats!

So the reason why Mikoto had resisted with her was because he felt he wasn't ready yet, but he was, he would give in and marry her!

Anna hurried away from the door. She didn't want them to know she had eavesdropped.

* * *

"I guess you now know that if the child in Anna's arms when she spoke to Tamotsu in her vision was hers, then it's father has to be you."

Mikoto actually hadn't really accepted that quite yet. But then again, the idea of kids never really crossed his mind.

Mikoto remembered that Anna had mentioned that Chitose's son was a strain. His power might blossom later on, but it would make sense that if Tamotsu was a strain and the son of his clansmen then he would be powerful.

If he was going to be a protector, as he had been aptly named based on Anna's insight on him, then the only baby that would possibly be required to have some protection would be a child of his and Anna's.

After all, it would make more sense that the baby was the son of the great Red King's.

A child who wouldn't require the protection of just _anyone_.

Even if Mikoto did not really consider having children one day, he didn't really like the idea of Anna having some other guy's child.

Izumo inwardly grinned. He could practically read Mikoto's mind. Lions tended to be possessive over what was theirs. Especially mates.

And Mikoto was definitely becoming possessive of Anna. Perhaps he had loosened somewhat toward his clansmen to allow them to give her bits of affection, but to no one else he would allow that privilege.

Anna was his, and his alone he seemed to think.

However, Izumo had one more thing to say to Mikoto.

"Mikoto, you are my King."

Mikoto tsked. He didn't really like it when Izumo reminded him of that. It was like he was drawing a line somewhere in their friendship and that pissed him off.

Izumo was aware of this, but he still continued in a formal manner as he folded his arms and became very serious.

Marriage was thing, but there was another issue that concerned Izumo.

"You are Anna's King as well, but I am her legal guardian. I will let you marry Anna but out of respect for her deceased parents and her aunt, I would like for you to do the honorable thing and marry her before you have any sexual relations with her."

Sex was an entirely different matter and he was quite sure Mikoto wouldn't mind having a good feel of Anna before they married.

Mikoto lifted a perfectly arched red eyebrow. Izumo was being a bit of a hypocrite since he tended to sleep around a lot. Still, as her legal guardian he did take certain things into consideration such as what the feelings of Anna's parents would be. No father or mother would like to find out that their underaged, unmarried daughter was having sex at age sixteen. Even if it was with a King.

Izumo wanted to do Anna's biological parents honor even in the grave for he had come to have the legal responsibility of her upbringing.

"Mikoto, I'm being serious about this. You seem to have toned down a bit but when you were sending the antidote into Anna's body, I felt like I was watching an erotic movie."

Mikoto frowned around his cigarette. "Is that so?"

"Yes. If anything at all happens between either of you, I don't care if she's sixteen or not, you _will_ get married. That's only the only condition I have. Do you agree with me?"

Mikoto sighed.

"Yeah. Why not?"

They shook hands on it and decided to leave.

Izumo said Mikoto's name as he reach for the door.

Mikoto flicked him a glance over his shoulder.

"Do you think if Tatara was still alive, Anna would have fallen for him instead?"

Mikoto snorted then.

"Then she would have been with that Kei guy."

"I think she's smart enough to see Kei as a separate person and not as a replacement for Tatara. What do you think, Mikoto?"

Izumo continued speaking as another thought came to him, "Nah. I think Anna is loyal to you the most. She's always had a crush on you. No matter what, her feelings for you will never change,"

* * *

"Oi."

Anna jumped like a startled bunny. She glanced over her shoulder with wide eyes to see Mikoto standing there with a cigarette in his mouth and his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you barefoot in a kitchen?" he questioned after cocking an eyebrow at her.

Anna's cheeks reddened slightly as she returned her attention to the dishes in the sink that she was washing up.

She was trying her best to hide the elation in her heart over what she had just heard. Sure, Mikoto had told her that the responsibility of their future was in her hands, implying that he did want something with her.

However, he had never told her what _exactly_ he wanted their relationship to be, or when something more would occur between them.

Now, she knew.

He was willing to marry her once he felt that she was old enough and he could truly accept her as an adult.

"I forgot my shoes outside."

"Go get it," he instructed and folded his arms.

Anna nodded and turned off the faucet. She dried her arms were a kitchen towel and slung through the handle of the oven before she hurried to the door. She had to walk past him to get there, but his arm shot out and caught her by the waist, stopping her.

Anna looked up at him.

His eyes remained on her for a long moment, as if he was thinking deeply.

"Mikoto?" she said his name and tilted her head to the side.

He blinked, as if startled out of his thoughts.

Then, he lowered his head and pressed a brief kiss against her temple. "Eat something," he told her quietly.

She nodded and he released her.

He did treat her like a child by telling her to do certain things, but he did not see her as one. He also had some childish ways about him that made Anna have to act like a parent with _him_ sometimes.

When she was younger and he locked himself up too much, she would request that they make his favorite food to get him to come down more.

She did do certain things around the bar like cook and wash for him when he should be doing stuff like that for himself.

But she didn't mind doing it and he never stopped her. He also never expected her to consistently do these things for him, yet she still did them.

They did have an interesting relationship where they cared for each other's needs to quiet, subtle ways that still, in some way formed a special kind of dependency on each other because they knew they could trust each other.

* * *

Eric had just opened the kitchen door and there he saw his king holding the princess of their clan in his arms, kissing her softly at her temple and then speaking to her softly.

Blushing furiously, he closed the door.

Then, he smiled.

It had been a while since he had seen those two interact with such affection. It was not as bad as the other night when the both of them had sounded sexually charged in the backseat of Izumo's car, but it was a very tender scene that brought warmth to his heart.

He walked away, leaving the two to have a moment of privacy.

* * *

Fushimi was thinking that he was unnaturally lucky today because of the fact that most of that cake Seri had made had been demolished.

Either his clansmen had eaten it...or destroyed it.

Still, they made sure to leave back a whole big chunk of cake for their King.

"I didn't realize that everyone liked the cake so much, Fushimi-kun. I will make another one tomorrow and save you a piece," Seri told him. She maintained her sense of formality but Fushimi could sense that on the inside, she was actually really joyful that everyone seemed to like her cake.

Haha.

What a joke.

He heard Hidaka was puking in the men's room right now.

"It's alright, you don't have to," Fushimi assured her.

"You can have a piece of mine," Munakata told him. They were in his office and he was sitting behind his desk with a huge slice of cake set before him.

Burnt greenish brown and loaded with blue frosting.

No matter what Seri might think, there was nothing aesthetically appealing about that slab of gunk.

Seri was at his side, her eyes filled with total respect that made it near impossible for the Blue King to find an excuse to not eat it.

"Ah...no, you don't have to-"

"I insist, Fushimi," Munakata stated and there was a hard edge in his voice that indicated that he was exercising authority.

_'This is oppression!'_ Fushimi wanted to accuse. This was just...just plain abuse of power to force him to endure the absolute torture of that nasty cake!

The only reason why Munakata was insisting on this was because if Seri made another cake tomorrow, they would have to eat it again! The best thing to do would be to simply have Fushimi eat some cake today so that tomorrow they wouldn't have to suffer again.

Of course he could just walk off and say he didn't want any.

And he was going to do just that but Munakata continued, "Your former female clansman really liked the flowers, Fushimi-kun. She said to tell you 'thank you',"

That made Fushimi pause.

He was glad he hadn't personally given Anna the flowers.

That would have just been awkward.

Although it might have been interesting to see everyone's reaction.

Seeing Yata and Anna hurt had been more upsetting to him than if one of his blue clansmen had been harmed.

After all, only _he, _Saruhiko Fushimi, was allowed to harm Yata. In fact, Fushimi had a special throwing knife just for him that he was waiting to use on the skateboarder the next time he saw him.

As for Anna, she was the one person in the Red Clan he had such a soft spot for. He had known her since she was a little girl...and even he had to admit that children like Anna, who were sweet, quiet and obedient, did tend to grow on him.

Even if she was a young woman now, he did care deeply for her. This was because in his eyes, she would always be that sweet little girl.

Fushimi almost clicked his tongue in annoyance for the memory of Anna made him go a bit soft on the female population as he almost considered actually eating Seri's cake.

_Almost_.

Not quite though.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"I'm allergic to red bean paste."

Munakata smiled slowly then.

"When was the last time you had red beans?"

"Ah-"

"I saw you eat a dumpling with it last week. I think you've outgrown that allergy, Fushimi-kun. Come here."

Fushimi tsked now.

How annoying.

_So much for good luck. _

Now he had to stuff that cake down.

He only hoped there was a toilet in the men's room reserved for his stomach contents.

* * *

Anna observed the yellow carnations in the store. What would be a good bouquet to bring to Yata in the hospital?

"You said you wanted to give your cousin some flowers as a thank you?" Kei asked.

She had returned to Seneca and was able to meet up with her friends before going to the hospital to see Yata. Mikoto and Izumo had already gone but she would meet them there. Afterward she would start her shift at the maid cafe, and spend the night in Seneca as requested by Akemi.

She had informed them that she was going to the florist and they insisted on coming with her. JJ seemed to be a bit bored and decided to tag along as well.

"Yes," she responded to Kei's question.

"You can give him some azaleas. I think they can mean 'thank you' in Western culture," Kei informed her.

Behind him, JJ remarked, "Stupid brother. Azlea means 'modest' in Japanese culture,"

Yata wasn't exactly what one could call 'modest'.

He wasn't arrogant either but he was a bit loud and boisterous.

Still lovable though.

Kei sneered at his brother. "You and your sense of nationalism. Nothing is wrong with adopting some western culture!"

"It's impeding on ours! Our sovereignty is being undermined! Our culture is being encroached upon by western standards! Our ramen stands will be destroyed by McDonalds restaurants!"

"If that's the case then you should be wearing a kimono instead of denims!"

JJ paused.

He looked down at himself.

Okay, so he had on a shirt and a pair of jeans. The denim fabric had originated in Italy but it was a German guy who had moved to the States and another American tailor who had first produced the commercial product that was now worn in several countries throughout the world.

He tsked.

"It's domestically produced: Made In Japan," he retorted.

Kei rolled his eyes and decided to ignore his brother. JJ was deliberately ignorant about certain things and was truly a bad debater. He would say the dumbest things to defend himself, even if it meant contradicting himself.

"Carnations," Anna murmured. It was best she could come up with but she did not really want carnations for Yata, considering that she had received some from Fushimi earlier today.

"Which one of your cousins are you getting them for?" Kei queried as JJ went off to harass Akemi who was standing behind them.

"Yata."

Kei looked thoughtful. "Yatagarasu? If you're looking for gratitude, you can choose bluebells because that what the flower represents in Japanese culture. Or how about edelweiss? They supposed to mean courage,"

Anna blinked as he pointed to some white flowers that had cotton-looking petals and yellow centers.

Yata was courageous. What he had done for her was very brave. Yes, edelweiss it would be.

As she went to speak to the florist about getting a dozen for Yata, Kei went to see what JJ was talking to Akemi about.

"I shall give you a yellow tulip so that I may express my one-sided love for you," JJ told the pretty blonde haired girl as he took one from the flower pot and held it out to her. His smile was flirtatious. They both knew he was just fooling around though.

However, Kei snatched the yellow blossom from him before Akemi could even consider accepting it.

"Don't be stupid, you womanizer! Tulips don't even suit a cactus like her!"

"Cactus!" Akemi gasped, then became angry. How dare he compare her to a cactus?!

"Oh? Cactus? Are you trying to say Akemi is a lustful woman? The flower does represent sex after all."

Both Akemi and Kei's faces went red.

"Oh shut up," Kei snapped and tugged a red hibiscus from a nearby pot where several were growing from a bush of dark green, leathery leaves.

Then, he faced Akemi. Her brilliant blue eyes looked up at him as he calmly tucked the flower above her ear.

"Kei?" she said his name.

In reply, he patted her head and walked away to see what Anna was doing and to also pay for the hibiscus he had plucked, as well as the tulip his brother had taken as well.

"Ah...how strange. Japanese culture considers hibiscus to be for people who are gentle."

Akemi glanced at him.

"Kei doesn't think me gentle."

JJ smiled thoughtfully. "Unless he chose it based on the western meaning."

"And what is it then, in western culture?"

"It means rare, delicate beauty."

Akemi's eyes widened slightly. Although her maid cafe name did acknowledge that she was a rare beauty, she did not ever realize that Kei had thought the same about her.

JJ walked past her.

"You do look very beautiful with that flower in your hair, Akemi-chan."

* * *

"Mikoto-san...for you to come here...and I...I'm sorry!" Yata apologized as he lowered his head as much as possible as he sat up on his bed in his hospital room.

"What are you sorry about?" Mikoto asked with a frown.

"I tried to protect Anna but she still got hit and then you had to come all the way here," Yata lifted his head up, his eyes watery like that of a touched child's, "just to see me."

Mikoto blinked twice. Yata's admiration of him could be a bit...much sometimes. But he liked his vanguard well enough. He was strong and he rarely ever failed him.

"You protected her, Yata-chan. She's alright," Izumo assured him.

"But two needles hit her-"

"And two hundred and twenty two hit you," Mikoto put in quietly.

Yata lowered his eyes. "She was still hurt."

Mikoto walked over to his clansman's side.

Startled at the king's nearness, Yata looked up at him.

Then, without warning, Mikoto whacked him to the back of his.

"Ow..! Mikoto-san, why?!" he asked as he rubbed his hurting head.

"You did your job, Yata. You're not accountable for the two needles that hit Anna."

"Only the two hundred and twenty two that got you," Izumo added.

Yata smiled then.

The door opened and everyone turned to see Anna standing there.

She was dressed in her maid cafe uniform as she had to hurry to work afterward. Her large eyes fell upon Yata and the skateboarder could swear he saw a flash of sorry in her eyes. She was observing his torso that was bound with white bandages and the lines under his eyes that came from the pain he felt despite the being administered painkillers.

She took one step into his room.

Then hesitated.

"Misaki."

Yata smiled widely then. "Anna! You're alright and you look great and-"

His words were cut off when Anna flew to him and hugged him tightly around his neck.

She was rarely one to show emotion but it was obvious that she had been very worried about Yata. She was glad to see him alive and recovering.

Yata felt that she might choke him and he was also concerned about Mikoto possibly incinerating him for allowing Anna to hold him so tightly.

However when he looked at his king, who was gazing upon Anna, Yata realized that his leader's eyes held understanding in them.

Mikoto glanced at Yata and nodded to him. Yata smiled back and wrapped his arms around Anna. She was soft and warm, like most girls were and she had the comfortable feel of 'little sister'.

"_Hold Anna's hand, Yata," Tatara told his comrade. His own arms were filled with groceries as they walked back to Homra bar. _

"_Eh?! But...but..." Yata's voice trailed off. Then he met eyes with the little girl who was looking up at him expectantly. _

"_Could it be that Yata has never held a girl's hand before?" Tatara queried. _

"_What?! That's...that's...none of your concern, Totsuka-san!" Yata sputtered._

_Tatara smiled goodnaturedly. "Well, I can't hold Anna's hand to cross the street because my arms are full. Just take her hand, it won't break,"_

_Yata looked down at Anna who remained silently waiting._

_She was just a kid right?!_

_A kid who had seen him naked..._

_Yata shook his head quickly to rid himself of the memory of that embarrassing incident!_

"_Yata, the light is going to change soon! You need to hold her hand," Tatara urged him._

_Yata grabbed the seven year old's palm into his own then, but tried to be gentle as possible. So gentle that her hand nearly slipped out of his grasp._

_Perhaps she sensed his uncertainty and she understood for instead of him gripping her hand properly, she tightened her hold on his and led him across the street after the light changed. _

"_It's like brother and sister, isn't it?" Tatara remarked behind them._

_Yata smiled. _

_Yes, it was. Thinking back on all the suffering the poor girl had to go through and how she was now safe with them in Homra, made Yata just want to guard this girl more and make sure that she was always comfortable and happy. _

He had protected her, hadn't he? Mikoto had said so!

"Thank you," Anna whispered as she drew back and held out the bouquet of pretty white flowers to him.

Happily, the skateboarder accepted them. These were special. They were from Anna.

"You did great, Yata-chan," Izumo told him softly.

And Yata's heart was almost bursting with pride that his actions were viewed in a very positive light, by three of the most important members of his clan.

* * *

**A/N: Just like before, I looked up all the info on flower meanings from Wikipedia. It had both Western and Japanese meanings. **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

*****I'm on holiday out of the country and I finally decided to check out some Anna/Mikoto fics out there. These are some that caught my attention so if you haven't read them, you can check them out:**

_**-King's Jealousy by FragileBlueButterflies. It's a very nice, well written story and I personally enjoyed every moment of it. Just keep in mind that it is an 'M' rated fic.**_

_**-Advertisement by featheredxrequiem. This author has some really nice oneshots and the ones I have read so far, I have found to be very sweet and beautiful. **_

_**-Red by WitchyCloudPine. This is not an Anna/Mikoto fic but it is one of the most well-written stories I have ever come across. Her OC is also very well developed and fits in wonderfully in the story.**_

_**I know there are a few more treasures and I will look again soon :) **__**  
**_

**Thank you, all of you who follow, review and favorite this story.**

**To those of you who reviewed:**

_**DBerryNia: I'm pleased you enjoyed those moments with Reisi, and hope you enjoyed them in this chapter as well :) I think Eid is either tomorrow or Friday, right? All the best to you on that day :)**_

_**WitchyCloudPine: Thanks so much, I'm pleased that you enjoyed the part with flowers :)**_

_**Bre Renee: Lol I won't kill you! I had wondered what had happened with you. I thought you probably got really busy and didn't have time to read. I'm pleased you're still keeping up with the story and that you're still enjoying them! Yes, you can call them 'sibling moments' :) I'm sure your own brother has his good points. Then again, some brothers don't develop nice points until they get older (like mine. When we were younger, he was kinda mean and now we get along pretty good). I don't mind that you wrote 3 paragraphs! I'm always happy to hear about what you liked in the story and how you think the character development is etc. Hope to here from you again, God bless :)**_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: I thought it would be interesting for Fushimi to give Yata flowers, solely based on its name XD I actually don't have any plans to write in anymore love triangle with those three, at least not in this story. I mentioned in a previous chapter that I would probably do a oneshot based on what would be like if Seri chose to be with Reisi, and another oneshot on what it would have been like had she chosen Izumo (based on what happened in the first part of the story). I'm not sure when I might do that but I'm considering when I've completed this story to do so. I am still planning to introduce her in another way in this story but I'm not sure how or if I will because then the story might end up dragging on for too long and I don't for that to happen. Hope this answer helps :)**_

_**LadyCassie: I'm glad that part made you laugh and I'm pleased you enjoyed reading :)**_

_**creativeactive: Well, there's no guarantee quite yet that they are going to get married ;) However, there is still a lot to come. There are some other details that need to be sorted out still and there is definitely another arc coming up though and it may be the last one for this story ;)**_

_** LindyLinn: I love him too! :)**_

_**Flower 117: Yes, Fushimi is a sweetheart :) And Awashima and her horrible cake made yet another appearance ;) The poster really was sweet, especially with the way Mikoto was looking at Anna. I was like 'aww...' when I saw it. I think they should show some flashbacks. I really hope they do :/**_

_**Wonderful Reminiscence: Yes, I remember your former username! It's always good to start afresh :) Thanks for thinking so well of the story, I truly appreciate it :) I haven't played any otome games but I do watch some anime and manga with them. Lately I'm into Brother's Conflict. Even though I personally don't find the art and coloring as high quality as other reverse harem animes that were originally otome games, I find it to be one of the most interesting! I actually really like the heroine as well. Normally they tend to be a bit boring (like the one from Amnesia). I think Gora is actually really good at marketing and reaching the preferences of different segments of his audience. He put in specific characters personalities so that it would appeal to a wide audience. I have to hand it to the Gora team, they really knew what they were doing when they came together to make K. I think they're releasing a game around the same time as the movie which is being developed by Otomate. They haven't said if it's a dating game as well, but I guess we will know next year :)**_

_**Guest: I'm pleased you enjoyed that bit of Fushimi and Anna :) I also like to think that Fushimi is like her older brother. Anna and Mikoto are definitely my OTP :) The storyline in Hakuouki for the anime was really terrible with the second season. There was more romance but it was just...sad :( I loved Hijikata, Okita and Harada :) I think Sannan-san had some good qualities :) I'm glad you enjoyed the fic so far :) I wrote in some Eric and Anna interaction here as well. Just a tiny bit, but hope you enjoyed it :) **_

_**friedchicken: I'm glad you did :)**_

**Thanks for reading, God bless :) **


	22. My Rooster, My Lion

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

_**A/N: PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE BECAUSE THERE IS A SPOILER IN THIS CHAPTER: The very first part of this chapter which is in italics is related to the latest chapter of K Memory of Red which has not been been posted on any manga sites quite yet. I mentioned in the last chapter that the tumblr of capioilla has a brief translation of it. **_

_**You can search through the tags in tumblr as well for a link to the raws. I think the tumblr of 09sana has nearly all the pages of the raws. **_

_**Otherwise, just skip the italics part at the very start of the chapter. **_

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

**Chapter 22: My Rooster, My Lion**

***********SPOILER FOR MEMORY OF RED CHAPTER 15 STARTS HERE***********

"_You didn't make a fuss over the flowers," Izumo remarked as he wiped down his precious counter in his beloved bar. _

_Tatara, who was sweeping the floor was startled by the bartender's words. It was just this pair downstairs in the bar right now because Anna and Mikoto were upstairs, Kamamoto and Yata were in the kitchen while the others were out shopping for various items for Anna's eleventh birthday celebration. _

"_Eh? Are you having regrets about your suggestion, Izumo?" Tatara asked him with a kind smile. _

_He had paused in his sweeping to speak to his friend. _

"_No, but the flowers we chose were red roses. Red represents passionate love which doesn't seem right because we're grown men giving a kid those flowers."_

_Normally, Tatara might have protested because he didn't seem to like it when Izumo smiled at Anna the way he would to a beautiful woman. It would therefore make sense that the young man might make an issue out of them giving Anna flowers which may be more suitable for an older woman. _

"_Aren't you overthinking it? They're red and they represent love," Tatara explained. He set aside his broom and then with a puffed out chest, he spread his arms wide and declared, "It will be a representation of our love for our little one!"_

_Izumo let out a weary sigh. "I can't tell if you're joking or not."_

_Tatara merely grinned. Normally, Izumo was the perceptive one, explaining certain things and giving logical explanations in order to give assurance to his comrades._

_Tatara was different in that his form of assurance came from warmth and he had a way about him that could easily lure one into believing him._

_That was why when he spoke, he tended to be more light hearted than Izumo while maintaining a certain level of cheerfulness. This did make Tatara a bit dangerous because he could easily give an enemy a false sense of security by simply speaking._

_Thankfully (for his enemies) he just used that mouth of his to talk his way out of trouble rather than using it to his advantage to exploit them._

"_I'm just wondering why you weren't worried about the flower meanings. It was a hobby of yours before, wasn't it?"_

_Tatara nodded. "Yes, but it doesn't matter. We have our own meaning for giving those flowers to Anna. It's because she's very dear to us. She is our precious family."_

_The young man's face grew warmer as he returned to his chore of sweeping up. "And Anna is like a rose, isn't she, Izumo? She's a bud but I know one day she will blossom into a someone even more beautiful."_

_Izumo remained silent as Tatara finished his sweeping and bid him goodbye. He went to search for Mikoto. _

_Izumo gazed after him, feeling that the younger man had somehow dodged the topic._

_And indeed, Tatara had deliberately been a bit vague. _

_He knew he was running out of time to live. _

_He did not know when he was going to die, but he would. _

_And there was something between Anna and Mikoto. _

_He could sense it._

_For now, Anna was a child but he knew she was going to blossom into someone Mikoto would need later on. Something was going to grow between those two._

_Something **special**. _

_He could not say specifically how he was aware if this._

_He just **knew**. _

_And he would more than likely not be there to see it._

_As he handed Mikoto the rose later, all the could think was how wonderful it would be if he could at least see Mikoto do something a bit...uncharacteristic like giving Anna a flower. This was the reason as to why he hadn't protested over them giving her roses, despite knowing the meaning. _

_It would have been nicer had this been when she was older for her to receive the flowers. _

_Then it would seem so romantic, especially if it came from Mikoto. _

_Still, Tatara could accept this for now._

_The ferocious red king giving a small child a flower._

_Some might think it humorous and in a way it was._

_But truthfully, it would be sweet. _

_A sweet little scene that Tatara could look forward to capturing on film with his camera__._

_And memorizing in his heart._

**********SPOILER ENDS HERE***********

* * *

As Anna rode her motorcycle back into Shizume City, her mind pondered a bit on the occurrences between the day before, last night and this morning.

After leaving Yata and the others in the hospital, Anna went to her maid cafe to complete her shift. From there, she proceeded to return to the apartment she shared with Akemi. They had to let the landlady know that they would be leaving soon.

Anna started to pack some of her things which would be delivered back to Homra. Akemi had already found a small apartment that was on the floor beneath Kei's in his building. The young man himself had shown up to help the girls out.

"_Akemi...I didn't know you were so naughty," he teased when he picked up a set of black knickers that had fallen out of one of her boxes that had clothes in it._

"_Ah! You pervert!" she snapped and snatched them away._

_Kei only laughed at her but he did not retaliate as he usually would when she bonked him on the shoulder. He did understand that hentai behavior like that with either girl was really pushing the line with them. _

_And he did respect them both to cut back on the perviness. _

_Not that he **was** a pervert._

_In fact, he had no qualms declaring that to his female companions, "I am not a pervert! I just appreciate women's underwear!"_

"_Go to hell," Akemi snapped._

* * *

Indeed, there was never a boring moment for Anna with those two around. Although she herself did not speak much, she did enjoy the liveliness of her two friends.

However, there were times when Kei would show some insight on her, very much in a way that only Tatara could.

This did bother Anna a bit.

_They had settled down for pizza and wine again._

_Only this time, Anna did not touch her wine. She had insulted Mikoto the last time she had stupidly drank and she did not think she liked the idea of making a potential ass of herself. _

_Akemi, as usual, fell asleep on the couch after the first wine box. That was because she was thoroughly exhausted from her work at the maid cafe, then with all the packing she had to do today. Anna herself was very weary. _

_Kei seemed to be more resistant to alcohol than Akemi because he was only slightly tipsy despite having drunken a lot more than Akemi. _

_Kei smiled kindly at Anna when she handed him a slice of pizza before coming to sit to his right. Akemi was dozing to his left with her head on the arm of the couch. _

"_You know, you're a lot better today. Did things work out well with your family?"_

_Anna nodded. _

"_They gave us quite a scare you know. It wasn't easy going up to Mikoto-san and telling him everything. I hope you aren't angry about it."_

"_I never was," Anna confessed. If she had been in their shoes, she might have done the same thing. They had tried to stop her from acting foolishly when her behavior had been based on emotion and without proper thinking. In the end, they had really just tried to protect her, which was what real friends were supposed to do._

_They had even braved the possibility of Mikoto's wrath just to stop her._

_This was more than what a lot of people would do. Others would have gotten angry and let her do what she wanted and would have been too cowardly to approach the King of the Red Clan._

_But not Anna's two friends._

_Truthfully, she couldn't ask for anyone better to be her companions. _

"_I'm glad. I suppose one of the reasons you're happy is because of Mikoto-san?"_

_Anna paused. She wasn't sure about what to say to that, even if he was right. _

_Kei chuckled, "That's a really interesting mark on your neck, Anna."_

_It was the first time the young man had ever seen Anna look a bit flustered. She stiffened and her head turned to him in a quick movement. She blinked at him twice and her mouth opened slightly, as if she wasn't sure about what to say._

_Kei pouted as the effects of the alcohol began to work more into his system. "I feel like a dad who just found out his daughter and her boyfriend were making out," Kei froze then and cast suspicious eyes on Anna, "it was **only** making out right?"_

_Anna released a sigh and stood up. She was not going to admit to Kei what had transpired between herself and her king. It was a secret that only she knew and she was not willing to share with anyone. _

"_Well, you don't have to tell me. It pleases me in a way though...at least I know that at Mikoto-san's side, you will always be safe."_

_This was something similar to what Izumo had told Mikoto in the storage room. It was also something Tatara would have said as well._

_That they wanted her to always be protected. _

_They wanted her to be happy, and at Mikoto's side, as his wife, she would be happy and guarded. _

_Kei looked thoughtful. _

"_That guy might need you too. He looks like the kind of person who can't become overly close with just anyone...but you seem like the feminine touch that he might desperately need to ease his own heart."_

_Did Kei really see that much into Mikoto?_

_Did he understand that much about him? How unusual for someone who did not really know Mikoto. The very fact that he even sensed something had changed with her and it was largely because of Mikoto was something that perhaps only Tatara might have picked up on, due to his closeness with Anna. _

_Too bad Kei still failed to realize Akemi's feelings for him, and his own for her. Sometimes people were really just blind to the obvious. _

"_I never knew Kei was romantic," Anna remarked as she stood up to get more pizza._

_Kei's response was merely a laugh. A warm chuckle very reminiscent to that of Tatara's. _

Indeed, Kei was a strange fellow alright.

A strange fellow in a Tatara sort of way.

* * *

They were planning a small get-together for Yata who would return from the hospital today. The antidote had worked extremely well and therefore he was allowed to come back to the City. Natsume still advised that they keep an eye on him and that he have weekly check-ups to ensure that he was recovering at a good, consistent pace.

Due to the many injuries on his back, and the weakness he sustained as a result of the poison, he had been advised to take a few weeks off to recuperate properly. He would have to keep all his training in athletics to a minimum until he got stronger.

As Yata would return tonight, everyone would be there during the day to finish preparations for the celebration of his recovery. It was simply a small gathering of the usual members of Homra who frequented the bar.

Unfortunately for Anna, she found herself in a similar predicament as she had been in many times in the past: Izumo did not want her to help them.

After parking her motorcycle in the garage, she had entered the bar only to find that several of her clansmen were hanging up balloons and streamers. The kitchen had a wonderful scent of food coming from it and Izumo was carefully looking at his selection of alcohol to ensure that everyone's favorites were on the shelf.

She was dressed in jeans and a red shirt when she came in.

After an enthusiastic greeting from her clansmen, she offered to help.

However, everyone shook their heads.

Anna's mouth formed into a straight line and her eyes fell upon Izumo for explanation.

He reached over the counter of the bar and placed a gentle hand on her head.

"Maybe we had been a bit extreme in not letting you help before, Anna but this time it's serious. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?"

She shook her head.

"You look like you're about to collapse. I know you worked yesterday and this morning, plus you spent the night packing your things. I want you to get some rest. You can't fault me for this."

Anna nodded, understanding. Izumo wouldn't be so adamant if he really didn't think she needed to relax a little.

And truthfully, she didn't need to look in the mirror to know she needed it.

She _felt_ exhausted.

"Mikoto's upstairs too. You should let him know you've come home."

* * *

Anna really had to go and do some shopping. Even after bringing back some of her clothes from Seneca she found that many of her comfortable dresses were either old, too tight or too short in some way or the other.

Trousers were simply a necessity for her as she never found them comfortable enough to wear them without a good reason.

And since she was home and would like to endorse in the pleasant feelings that was brought about by the comfort of home, she chose a rather threadbare dress to wear on. It was comfortable and this was what mattered to her.

She was quite sure Izumo would have some choice words to describe what she was wearing and might actually march her off to a clothing store himself.

Because she looked like a pauper.

Yes, a rather impoverished person.

Why did the dress make her look so undignified?

Well, when it was new it had been quite beautiful with brilliant red and pink colors. The sleeves were short and like the rest of the dress, had a ruffled material on it. It fell just along her midthighs.

Now, the dress was faded in color, threadbare from too many washings and seemed to deserve a home in the trashcan.

Anna didn't really care at the moment. There were times when one really needed to let loose and not give a damn about appearance.

Even Anna had these moments.

And this dress was just perfect.

Besides, she was perfectly neat in appearance despite the old dress she was wearing. Her skin was clean, she smelled refreshing and her hair was combed out neatly.

She decided to search for Mikoto now.

Anna found him by the window down the hall, stretched out on the divan.

His arms were behind his head as one leg remained lying down while the other was lounging casually to the side with his foot flat on the ground.

Mikoto had chosen to wear on a white shirt today that reached just past his elbows. There were only two buttons at the top and one of them was undone, only giving a small peak at his flat, hard chest.

Anna walked over to him and stood over him, observing him.

Handsome.

He was so very handsome.

Wild red hair, often serious faced and quiet just made him broodingly good-looking.

And when he opened those eyes of his to reveal those orbs of his, Anna wished she had picked up her marbles just to catch a glimpse of their beautiful golden color.

Through half-lidded eyes, he watched her.

"You're back," he stated.

She nodded.

His eyes opened a little more as they flicked over her features.

His mouth formed a slight frown when he caught sight of her raggedy dress. After cocking an eyebrow at her choice of clothing, he observed her face and took in the dark circles under her eyes. His pretty princess looked like an the exhausted waif.

His large hands reached out and caught her small waist. Her thinness did not exactly help with her appearance either.

Anna only made a soft gasp when Mikoto easily lifted her so that she was sitting on top of him with a knee hugging either side of his hard, lean stomach.

In order to brace herself, she pressed her hands against flat against his chest as she watched him wide eyed. Some of her white hair had spilled over one of her arms and onto his body.

Mikoto lifted his hand and shoved easily at one of her shoulders in order to get her to press against his strong thighs which he had drawn up behind her.

"What's with that?" he demanded, clearly meaning her dress.

From his view of lying down, he was able to take in the contours of her young body that were molded by the dress.

The material fell loosely on her, but it in no way hid the fact that she had beautiful curves. Even the bodice which demurely covered her breasts had a rounded neck and a frilly edging that was still sewn in such a way as to show the shape of those firm globes of hers, rather than the actual naked skin of them.

But her clothing was so..._old_.

"Why isn't that in the trash?" Mikoto demanded.

Normally, he wouldn't care what she wore on, but the way she looked...it just made her seem every bit the orphan.

A very _underprivileged_ orphan.

"It's comfortable," she responded in a rather prim manner.

Mikoto frowned.

"You look like a street rat," he told her bluntly.

Anna blinked. He was the last person on earth she expected to give regard to her clothing. She always believed that as long as she was decently covered, he wouldn't care.

But then she saw something in his eyes she had rarely ever seen. When she had first come to Homra, she had seen it just a tiny bit.

It took a moment for her to understand what it was.

It was _pity_.

"Is Mikoto feeling..._sorry_ for me?" she asked. Her face remained blank of emotion but there was a thread of awe in her voice when she spoke.

Mikoto gave an annoyed huff.

How could he not feel some sort of sympathy for her when she looked like Cinderella at her worst?

In fact, she gave a new meaning to the name 'Raggedy-Ann doll'.

It would probably be better to call her 'Raggedy-_Anna_'.

"Urchin," he muttered and pulled her down to his arms so that he could fill them with her soft body. "you need to sleep."

Anna's head was buried into the crook of his neck as one of arms remained wrapped around her waist. His chin was on top of her white head. She could feel the the leather of his belt pressing against her hip while her legs were tangled with his own.

It was always warm in Mikoto's arms.

She always felt safe in the protection his strength offered.

But things weren't the same as they used to be.

Before, he might have been fighting off his desire for her while she had been desperately trying not to let him see what she felt for him, but now she was the one who had to be strong and keep things at bay.

Lying with him like this did not help her situation.

That was because one of his thighs was between her own, pressing against that sensitive spot of hers. Her breasts were crushed against his heated body and his arm around her rendered her immobile.

There was a heat in her that she was desperately trying to maintain, to now overflow from her for he would be able to pick up on it and respond.

Those chains binding his lust would break.

A part of her whispered to just allow his bound desire to break loose and unleash itself on her.

But another part of her respected and loved Mikoto too much to defy him. She already knew that he did plan to take serious steps in their relationship but he was not quite ready to do so until he was able to fully conceptualize that she was an adult.

He had already accepted this somewhat, but not enough for him to not have guilty repercussions of engaging her in a sexual relationship due to the fact that he had cared for her since she was little.

Sure, their relationship had always been unique with its own special bond but that bond needed to mature a little more on both their parts.

There was no sense in getting married and coming into a passionate relationship if there was something to hold them back like Mikoto's conscience.

It would therefore be selfish of Anna to take advantage of their current situation.

She could wait for Mikoto, even if it took a hundred years.

"Anna?" he murmured her name, realizing she was still very much awake.

Mikoto felt her breath on his neck when she confessed, "I can't sleep,"

He shifted so that he could look down at her.

Lifting his free hand, he flicked the middle of her forehead.

"You _look_ like you need to sleep."

Anna was silent.

However, Mikoto did understand that for many people, when they were too tired it could be hard to fall asleep.

This did not apply to Mikoto, the King of naps though.

He slept _anywhere_ and _anytime_.

Releasing a soft sigh, he lowered his head and began to nuzzle at his favorite spot. That spot that made her sleepy.

Anna let him do as he pleased as she felt his warm breath and the gentle touch of his nose and mouth against her temple. Gradually, the hands she had fisted into the material of his shirt began to uncurl as she began to relax more against him.

And all she could think was what an affectionate lion her king was.

* * *

_Anna was walking in a wide open field. It was huge and she came to realize that it was a savannah. Then, in the distance, she saw what looked like a huge beast walking, prowling around. It seemed to pause._

_Then, upon catching sight of her, it ran full speed on its powerful legs to come at her. _

_She should have been afraid. _

_Had she been anyone else she might have been._

_But she knew this red maned, golden eyed lion was coming at her._

_When he neared her, he leaped at her._

_And practically **glomped** her as two large paws caught her shoulders and pressed her down. Then, without warning, the lions's body began to change. The front paws shrank to form hands and the arms and legs and torso became more lean as the golden brown fur faded away._

_As for that red hair, it receded back until the image of the face of a familiar man was before her. _

_It was Mikoto._

_The only strange thing was that its furry ears did not disappear._

_Mikoto looked like a beautiful beast, even with those cute ears._

_He suddenly hugged her to him made a soft growling noise as he pressed loving kisses against her cheek and began to nuzzle her and nudge his forehead against her._

_And Anna realized suddenly that this was perhaps the affectionate aspect of Mikoto. The part of him that loved to snuggle and show her tenderness. She had dreamt of this lion occasionally when she was little. _

_Particularly when she and Mikoto had become closer after Tatara's death. _

* * *

When Anna opened her eyes later, she found herself alone on the divan with a white blanket covering her.

Yet, she could catch the scent of tobacco and a very mild touch of something spicy on her body. Obviously, it was the lingering effects of Mikoto's warm cuddles.

* * *

"I must admit, you do look quite sexy," Chitose remarked.

The person he was complimenting was **not** his wife. Maria was sitting on the couch opposite to him with Tamotsu in her arms. He was wrapped in a red blanket. Beside her sat Anna who was gazing at the quiet baby with interest. She had managed to dig out another dress which was velvety red with white buttons. As it fell mid-thigh, she wore on her usual white stockings with it. She looked quite pretty in it.

Better than what she had on earlier-something that was so raggedy that even Mikoto had few words for it.

Neither female paid much mind to who Chitose was speaking to.

Even though it was a cosplayer who was portraying a character from Sailor Moon.

Sailor Mars to be exact.

Longish black hair, and a dress which had the bodice of a sailor's shirt and a short red skirt. Heck, this person even had on a lovely set of red heels!

Chitose scratched his chin thoughtfully with one hand before he used the other to grope the cosplayer's chest.

"Although you could do with a little more up here."

"You pervert! Maria, your husband is sexually harassing me!" the cosplayer complained.

The young mother merely flicked a glance over at the pair.

"Chitose, behave yourself," she reprimanded him before returning her attention to her small son.

Chitose merely smiled awkwardly before bothering the cosplayer again.

"And those hairy legs have got to go. Didn't Kamamoto lend you a razor?"

"No! Leave my hairy legs alone! It's last proof I have of my manliness!"

It was Dewa who was cosplaying.

It happened after Yata had come in, still bandaged. The young man had received pats on the back, hugs and compliments for his bravery.

Unfortunately, he had to sit back and observe everyone consume alcohol because he had been restricted from the substance until he was properly healed up.

But alcohol was not necessary to have a good time. There were other ways to have fun.

Noting that he might still feel a bit left out, Dewa offered to play a round of cards with him, Kamamoto and Chitose. The loser would be punished.

And the loser was Dewa himself.

His punishment?

Cosplaying.

Cosplaying a female character from an anime that was targeted to a female audience.

Where did they even get the costume?!

Apparently Maria sometimes went undercover in her line of work and there had once been a time she had been required to be a cosplayer. Unfortunately, her costume had been a couple sizes too big and the store she had gotten it from was non-refundable.

Chitose had happened upon the costume and had decided to bring in today in order to have some fun with the guys with it.

And was having Dewa dress as a sexy Sailor Mars fun?

Hell yes!

Especially when they had given him a bra and stuffed two oranges in there to make him look like he had a set of C-cup breasts.

Although Chitose felt that grapefruits might have been better as they were bigger.

"I thought the proof of your manliness was your coc-"

"Chitose," Maria cut off her husband in a sharp tone of voice.

He smiled embarrassedly again and became disturbed when Maria lifted a hand and showed him her set of perfectly polished, razor sharp nails. She was clearly threatening him and it was a threat he took to heart for he fell completely silent.

Maria lowered her hand and let out a sigh.

"It's very ungentlemanly to use coarse language in the presence of ladies," she informed him.

He lifted his hands in surrender.

"I agree, I agree. I just lost myself in this moment of laughter," he assured her while Dewa glared bullets at him.

"You bastard, before Maria, you were never a gentleman," Dewa snapped.

Chitose seemed to have become aghast at his friend's words.

"What are you talking about? I was sweet to all the ladies!"

"And that just made you a cad, not a gentleman."

Chitose looked mortified.

"That isn't true and you know it!" he denied.

As Maria carefully laid Tamotsu into Anna's arms, the white haired female stated blankly while her eyes remained on the baby, "You made Brock from Pokemon look like shy,"

Chitose gasped.

"That's mean, Anna! Maria, ignore what they're saying!"

Maria chuckled.

"That's all in the past, Chitose. I trust you," she assured him.

It was obvious that Chitose's love for his wife was what kept him loyal to her.

However, secretly everyone also knew that those dangerous nails of hers played a large role on ensuring that he _remained_ loyal.

She would hunt down and shred him if he dared to so much as flirt with another woman.

Yata hopped off his stool on the bar and walked over to peek at Tamotsu.

"Say, was it alright to bring him out now? He's still so little," he commented.

"He's still a little less than a month old but we thought it was alright to bring him out today. The only time he was outside was when we had to bring him out and put him in the car, and then when we had to take him out and bring him in here. He's alright," Maria assured him.

"Ah, I see," Yata murmured.

"Are interested? You can hold him if you like," Chitose encouraged his friend.

Yata immediately looked uncomfortable.

"What? No! I can't, I'm injured!"

"Your back is injured not your arms."

"But-"

But Anna had already stood up with the baby and was ready to hand it to him.

Mikoto was observing the scene with a seemingly bored expression on. The fact that he was looking on did mean that what was happening did hold his interest.

Especially after what Izumo had told him about Anna's vision yesterday.

A baby huh?

Anna did look nice with one. The baby even seemed to like her because when she held him, he had started to stir but in no way did he cry.

She was young but mature and maybe someday, she would have a child of her own.

And maybe that baby might be hers and Mikoto's.

_Maybe_.

There was still no guarantee that the child she had been holding had been her own. It was just an assumption.

Mikoto didn't know a blessed thing about babies.

Only that they ate and slept all day long.

He was coming to accept now that there might be a possibility that he might have an off-spring of his own in the future, but it was still something that seemed so far away to him that it was so unreal to him.

It was a bridge he would cross when he came to it.

"It's not fair! I want out of this!" Dewa complained. He was fed up of this stupid costume!

_Fed up!_

"But you look so beautiful! You would put the real Sailor Mars to shame," Chitose tried to comfort his friend.

"It shames me that you know so much about that girly cartoon!"

Yata had reluctantly accepted the baby from Anna while Maria made sure to keep a watchful eye on them as they were both inexperienced when it came to handling little ones.

"Maybe we should play another round. If Dewa loses again, he has to keep on the costume for the rest of the night. If he doesn't, then he can take it off. Since its a couple of us playing then the winner chooses a punishment for the loser," Bando decided.

Everyone nodded, including Yata who was only too happy to return the baby to its mother. Sure, the little scrap of humanity may no longer look like an old man.

Probably still like an alien though with those huge eyes.

But he was cute.

Really cute.

But Yata was afraid of hurting the cute little thing.

Maria tsked when she accepted her son once more.

"What will happen to you and Emi-chan when you have a child, Yata-chan?" she questioned.

Surprisingly, Maria did not make him nervous like other females because she was a woman.

No, it was because it was because she could be a pretty frightening person.

So much though that he gave her same respect that he would give to a strong man. It wasn't that he was a chauvinist. He just never really fought with females except that heartless woman from the Blue Clan and he really didn't think of her as very feminine.

Mainly because he couldn't think of any reason as to why any intelligent female would want to join up with the Blues.

He merely shrugged at Maria and gave an anxious smile before he hurried over to the guys to play.

This time, Izumo, Dewa and Yata were going to play. Mikoto had reluctantly agreed as well.

"With your bad luck, you're bound to lose," Izumo remarked to the king as he shuffled the deck.

Mikoto made an annoyed grunt.

His luck was so bad that even he agreed that it was likely to happen.

Much to Dewa's secret joy, it did.

The loser of that round of cards was Mikoto. Now, Dewa could run upstairs and strip off the costume and return to his manly jeans, shirt, jacket and hat!

While he did just that, Izumo stated, "Since I'm the winner, I get to choose your punishment,"

Mikoto didn't say anything but everyone was looking on with great intrigue.

"What will be the King's punishment, Kusanagi-san?" Yata queried and looked a bit frightened when Mikoto shot him a glare.

However, the Bar became silent as everyone waited with baited breath for Izumo's decision.

"He'll have to kiss Anna."

The silence was broken at the sound of someone hitting a piece of furniture and then falling.

Everyone spun around to see that Anna had somehow tripped on the table that was between the two couches and was on the ground. Perhaps Izumo's words had surprised her and led to clumsiness on her part.

Before anyone could help her up, Mikoto was there, grasping her arm.

She shook her head at him but his hold on her tightened.

She was very embarrassed at her fall and did not want anyone helping her up.

"You fell," he growled.

"I did not fall."

"Oh? Then what happened?" he queried in a mild tone as he placed a hand on his hip and looked down at the fallen princess.

"I tripped," she answered with a completely straight face.

Mikoto gave her a lopsided frown before sighing and pulling her upward. His golden eyes met her own which were reflecting the red of his body, of his power that only she could see.

"Are you going to kiss her?" Izumo asked.

Mikoto didn't reply but kept on gazing down at Anna's pretty face.

Then, without warning, his head lowered and he covered her mouth with his.

At first, Anna had expected a deep, passionate kiss.

But instead, it was an achingly sweet kiss. His mouth had a firm hold over hers but never once did he thrust his tongue pass her lips.

No, it was a gentle kiss.

He had kissed her like this before-in Seneca when he had been reverted to his fourteen year old state.

This kiss had the sweetness of those long ago moments three years ago when they had pressed their mouths against each others in the clubroom, and then in the forest.

And Anna realized as he drew back that he did indeed remember that time.

He had just silently admitted it to her.

Unfortunately, standing in front of everyone was not the time or place to discuss what had transpired three years ago.

She fought hard to not touch her lips with her fingers. She would taste the bourbon of his mouth on them if she licked them but she had to act normal.

She had to be neutral.

But that did not stop the light stain of red on her cheeks.

Mikoto placed a kind hand on her head.

It was his way of saying to not be bothered by it.

Everyone cheered on happily. Eric and Fujishima looked relieved. At least there had been no hot, heavy kissing this time around!

Mikoto walked away then with a cigarette pack in his hand, ready smoke.

* * *

"Are you letting Anna drink?" Yata asked.

He was sitting beside her at the bar. Dewa, now looking very much the man he was, was on Anna's other side.

He accepted the Bloody Mary that Izumo made.

"She's underaged," Izumo replied as he placed a glass of orange juice in a cocktail glass for her.

"But she's no longer innocent to alcohol. Does it make any sense to keep her away from it?" Kamamoto questioned behind Yata.

He received a swift punch from Yata in the gut.

"Don't say things like 'she's no longer innocent'! It sounds like she's impure in some way!" Yata snapped.

"Wha-! Ouch...uh...sorry Anna," Kamamoto apologized.

Yata also winced a bit. He had forgotten that he was supposed to refrain from too much physical activity for a while.

Izumo looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Anna, I am very worried," he told her gravely.

She looked at her guardian and waited for him to continue speaking.

"That wine you drank was such bad quality and it was absolutely awful. It was like an insult to me after all these years of teaching you that you would touch such low class stuff."

"Ah...I'm sorry, Izumo," she said to him, although she was surprised that he hadn't chosen to berate her instead for her actions.

"But then again, I only taught you about wine. Would you like to try some vodka?"

Anna blinked.

"Is it alright?"

"I'll make you a screwdriver and I'll only put in a small amount of vodka," he told her as he took her glass of fresh orange juice from her.

He poured the untouched juice into his mixer and added in some vodka. He took out a new glass and added some ice and poured in the mixture. He added a straw, a cherry and an orange wedge before serving it to her.

Both Anna's hands were on the counter as she observed the drink in the highball glass.

It looked like orange juice.

She lowered her head to take a whiff of it.

It smelled like orange juice.

Maybe it tasted like orange juice?

She took the straw into her mouth and took a sip.

"How is it?" Izumo asked her.

"Tastes like orange juice...but it burns a little," she answered.

"The burn is from the alcohol. Do you like it?"

She nodded.

* * *

Mikoto's attention had been drawn to Fujishima, Eric and Shouhei.

The trio were fussing over Fluffy, the little rabbit Fujishima had taken pity on.

"The rabbit looks a lot healthier compared to when you first brought it in," Shouhei said as he petted the thing who was sitting in a cardboard box, munching on a piece of carrot.

"It has lots of love and I take it to a place that specializes with rabbits. It has a rabbit playground so Fluffy can play with them too."

Eric frowned. "This rabbit gets better treatment than humans."

Fujishima managed a small smile.

"Fluffy is loved. That's why he looks so healthy now. He'll live long and happy because he isn't alone anymore."

So his rabbit's life was sustained now that it was being well cared for, now that it no longer felt alone.

Glancing across the room at Anna who was sitting at the bar, Mikoto wondered if it was the same for her. She looked more cheerful now that they had sorted out many things with her. It was like some life had come back to her eyes.

She was happy.

Mikoto became distracted when Shouhei declared, "Now Kamamoto-san will feel more inclined to barbecue Fluffy!"

In retaliation, Fujishima gathered up his pet when the chubby fellow came by.

No one was going to eat his Fluffy!

_No one!_

* * *

Had Mikoto known that Izumo had given Anna alcohol, he would have stopped him.

The reason was actually not because she was underaged, but because when she had alcohol before, it had been for an emotional reason.

He did not want her to have an emotional dependency on the stuff. This could potentially lead to substance abuse if they were not careful because she was still so young.

However, that idiot bartender was so intent on ensuring that Anna was his apprentice who would bear the huge knowledge of high quality spirits and wines.

And the best way to teach her was to let her drink it herself.

Small amounts he had given her was his claim.

They were small amounts of hardcore spirits-vodka to be specific-that still affected her.

Because she was now _hugging_ Mikoto and refusing to let him go.

He was sitting on the couch with an unlit cigarette between his teeth while she cuddled herself up next to him. Her long, slender arms were around his waist and the side of her face was buried against his warm shoulder.

"I didn't give her much," Izumo told Mikoto as he stood before the pair.

"Clearly you gave her enough," Mikoto retorted.

Izumo sighed and admitted, "It was stupid of me, but I thought it might be good for her to get a little taste of alcohol from time to time if she's decided that she wanted to help out more in here. I swear, I only put about a tablespoon of vodka in there."

Izumo wouldn't lie about it. This meant that Anna had a very low tolerance for alcohol. Indeed, this was something that was going to be a no-no for her from now on.

After all, what if she got older and she decided to drink elsewhere, socially? Who would look out for her if no one from Homra was around? There was dire consequences for people who drank and couldn't hold their liquor well.

Especially females.

Guys were also vulnerable.

Even if everyone else in Homra used to go out and drink before age twenty, they would not allow Anna to do the same.

Even if they were an unruly bunch who broke all the rules, when it came to Anna, they tended to be different. It was something to be expected as they had basically raised her from a little girl and what applied to them didn't necessarily apply to her if it meant that there would be negative consequences.

Especially since they had experienced much of those negative consequences.

Like Kamamoto falling into a drain when he was drunk.

Or Yata nearly getting groped by some pervert on the way home.

Or even Dewa who had spent hours searching for his hat which had been right in front of his very eyes ('_I feel naked without it!' _had been his drunken reasoning for searching around for it instead of forgetting about it).

Seeing her this way, especially as she was a girl made them realize that alcohol should not be something for her, whether or not she was underaged.

"Mikoto," Anna whispered his name.

He felt her face brush against his shirt as she looked upward at him with bleary eyes.

"What?"

"Mikoto is my rooster," she told him in her normal expressionless tone.

Mikoto froze while Izumo covered his mouth to smother his laughter.

"You little brat. I will _kill_ you," the King swore as his arm came around her and gripped her tightly to him.

Anna watched up at him with uncharacteristically serious eyes.

"Mikoto is a handsome rooster. _My_ handsome rooster."

"I'll murder you, you little creature," he threatened lowly as his hold on her tightened. He didn't care that she had actually complimented him.

To call him a rooster, _again_.

It was a direct attack on his pride!

He was going to get her for this.

He was going to shove her in a freezing shower again and then he would make her wear black as they would prepare for the funeral of her precious little plushie, Mr. Lion-O.

He had needed an excuse to incinerate the hideous thing and now he had it!

As Mikoto thought of all the different ways to eradicate the stuffed toy's existence from before their very eyes, Anna murmured on a slurred tone, "Mikoto is not a rooster. He's a lion."

A lion?

That made Mikoto pause and look at her.

Once more, she snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes.

"A brave, strong lion. Mikoto is _my_ lion."

The cigarette fell from his lips.

Little brat.

She damned well knew how to talk her way out of trouble, even in her current state.

Had she learned this from Tatara?

Maybe.

Her words did please him greatly but he knew he ought to take her up to bed now.

Without further ado, he carefully lifted her into his arms. He figured this was better than throwing her over his shoulder because then she might wake up and say more ridiculous things.

With an arm across her shoulders and the other under her thighs, he took her up to her room.

* * *

She wore on the earrings today.

Mikoto observed this when he lay her down on her bed and her head turned to the side, revealing the silver hoop that pierced her tender flesh.

It seemed she tended to wear on the earrings more often in Shizume City instead of Seneca.

Her reason was certainly not because she was afraid to lose them-she could easily locate them with her marbles in the event such an incident occurred.

Perhaps it was because she valued the earrings so much that she wanted to wear them only on special occasions.

Mikoto observed her beautiful form for a moment longer before he lifted her hand.

But she never took off the ring he had placed on her finger. She had at least obeyed him in this aspect to keep on wearing it.

He was glad about that.

After pressing a small kiss against her hand, he moved to give her a brief one on her cheek. Unable to help himself, he also gave her a little nuzzle as well.

She smelled so sweet and feminine.

His pretty Anna.

His princess.

"Mikoto?" Anna murmured his name.

He drew back slightly to see that she had half-opened her eyes.

"Go to sleep," he urged her softly.

Her response was lift her small, pale hands and thread them into his thick red hair. Then, she pulled his head down to hers so that she could nuzzle into that thick, silky rouge mass of hair he had.

Mikoto had been surprised at her unexpected burst of strength, as well as the little nose he felt affectionately rubbing against his temple.

"Anna?" he voiced her name. He was clearly confused by her behavior.

She released him but her hands remained on his shoulders as she lay her head on her pillow once more.

"Mikoto isn't sleepy," she explained. He could hear the disappointment in his voice.

So she had been trying to see if nuzzling him would have the same effect on him as it did on her? Seemingly it did not.

Mikoto snorted.

"I'm not."

"I see," she murmured. The room was spinning. She didn't feel too good. Maybe she could Izumo for some of that awful tea that sobered one up.

Nah.

She had that once.

It was too nasty for her liking.

Mikoto released a heavy sigh. He better get going. However, before he could go, Anna called his name once more.

"Mikoto."

He looked at her.

To his surprise, she seemed a little shy.

"What?" he asked her.

"Will you kiss me again?" she questioned softly.

His eyes widened.

He had remembered quite a while now what had really happened between himself and Anna in Seneca but some matters were best left alone for the time being. After that kiss earlier today, she was more than likely aware that he had remembered.

Someday they would talk about it.

But not today.

He was now looking at how perfectly beautiful she was as she lay before him.

Like a handcrafted porcelain doll.

Anna's thick, white hair formed a silky halo around her head as she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide, almost shimmering as they glowed red while she gazed upon him.

Along her cheeks was a slight flush, either from the alcohol or from her shy request. Her mouth was soft and pink...perfectly kissable.

Anna looked..._cute_.

This...this little _waif_ better not show such an expression to other men! No way could he allow her to drink if it meant that she would like this in front of others!

It was dangerous!

Mikoto tsked.

He would comply.

A part of him was saying to make it quick and get out of there. Even if he was now able to somehow control himself around her, it did not mean that he could lose it.

So, he pressed his closed mouth briefly against hers.

Then, he patted her head gently, as if she were a child.

"Get some rest," he urged her.

Anna nodded while he got up.

As he moved to go, he heard her murmur, "I love you, Mikoto,"

That made him pause.

"Huh?"

He looked at her from over his shoulder and saw that she had already closed her eyes. By the even sound of her breath, she had clearly fallen asleep.

After a pause, Mikoto gave a rare, warm smile.

She had never really said such words to him.

Maybe because she had been too shy as a little girl and she might have been aware such words from her might have made him feel uncomfortable.

But he accepted them now.

He had known for a long time now that Anna did love him.

And it was nice to hear her actually say it.

"Sleep well, brat. You're probably going to have a bitch of a hangover tomorrow," he muttered before turning around and tucking her a blanket around her. Then, he quietly exited the room.

* * *

**_A/N: I will probably do at least two more chapters with small time skips and then afterward I will start on the very last part of this story. I'm not sure how many chapters it will take. _**

**_Thanks again, all of you who followed, reviewed and favorited this story. _**

**_*I have read one last Anna/Mikoto fic and it is probably one of the best ones. It's called 'Heat' by GarnetQueen. She updated recently so you can go check out her work. Just keep in mind that it is an M rated fic so use your discretion when reading. _**

**_For all those who reviewed the last time:_**

**Bre Renee: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and I'm really happy that you're keeping up with the story! About brothers-I think that's how the lot of them are. Is your bro older than you or younger? My bro is older and I think it took a while for him to really understand what it means to be the older sibling, but he's a pretty decent bro right now. He's a lot kinder compared to when we were both younger. I think he now wants to be someone I can look up to. If your bro is younger, then I think he might really end up respecting you. Maybe a bit later on in life he'll appreciate you more. I'm sure he already does (but wouldn't show it!). Haha I think Fushimi could definitely be considered her older brother! We'll know what happens IF Anna does get married ;)**

**LindyLinn: I'm glad that the chapter made you laugh so much :) I'm also pleased that you thought it was really good :)**

**Wonderland Reminiscence: I'm glad you liked the chapter with jealous Mikoto :) I like Tsubaki from Brother's Conflict but I also really like Natsume as well. I found some of the summaries of the game and the novels online. Based on the what I read in the novel summaries, I ended up taking a strong liking to Kaname, which is surprising. When I had first seen him in the anime, I didn't really get a good impression of him. I checked out Heart No Kuni No Alice. It's also very interesting. It would be really interesting to see how some of the guys are from K when they're being romantic :)**

**FragileBlueButterflies: You have a really awesome way of waking up :) I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters. Thank you for writing such a decent story. There aren't many multi-chaptered Anna/Mikoto fics out there, and I was being very honest when I said yours was well-written. I'm looking forward to your future updates :) I'm pleased you enjoyed the last chapter of this story, including the conversation with the guys. Thanks so much for your kind words and hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)**

**LadyCassie: I'm glad you really enjoy reading this story :) The flashback with Anna seeing Yata nude came from the novel, K: Side Red. I'm not sure if you read the translations but if you like, I can direct you where to go to find the translation of that scene. There was even a pic of it in the novel! LOL!**

**AngelGirl0200: Don't worry, I forgive you! Thank YOU so much for reviewing! i appreciate it! Mikoto will find out what happened with Anna eventually. I have plans for that already *evil grin* I'm glad you're enjoying Anna and Mikoto's sweet moments :)**

**friedchicken: I'm glad you liked the flower meanings and the moments between Anna and Yata :)**

**Anon: Yes, poor flowers :( I'm glad you liked the chapter :)**

**Guest: Lol Izumo the pimp :)**

**Guest: I'm glad you like the Anna and Eric bit :) Yes, I hated Hakuouki for that. I guess we were left to assume Hijikata lived :( I still loved the other guys so much! My only comfort was to go search out the game reviews. Someone even posted up a translation of Sweet School Life on Youtube. Did you see it? It was really funny :)**

**Flower 117: OMG, I saw the picture! It was sooo cute! Finally, some more Anna/Mikoto art! Who would I fall for in K? Honestly, I would fall for either Kamamoto or Izumo. Kamamoto seems like the kind of guy who would accept a person for who they are, no matter what while Izumo is mature, even if he is a ladies' man and he's really gorgeous too. Did you see the new art with him and Seri? They both looked so good! I'm glad you liked the scenes with Eric and with Mikoto and Anna :)**

**Indochine: You're back! Hope you had a great trip :) I recently came back from a very short holiday as well. I'm really happy to know that you liked how I portrayed Fushimi. When I was writing the last chapter, I did recall a lot of that short story "King and Traitor". Wikipedia was the perfect shortcut for finding out flower meanings in both Japanese and Western cultures ;) Poor Scepter 4 indeed :P I'm glad you really liked the chapters, and I hope you enjoyed this one too. I'm doing pretty good, and I hope you are as well :)**

_**Thanks for reading.**_

_**God bless :)**_


	23. A Special Day I

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: This chapter makes mention of the otome game 'Brother's Conflict'._**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

**Chapter 23: Special Day Part I**

"Misaki, did I something wrong?" Anna queried as she entered the bar behind a teed off looking Yata.

He spun around and glared at her.

"Did you do something wrong? _Did you do something wrong?!_" the chestnut haired fellow repeated, nearly shouting.

Anna simply looked at him with her wide eyes before blinking once and placing her hands together in front of her as she waited ever so patiently for him to speak.

Yata was a bit taken aback by her reaction. Most people ran from him when he got angry because he tended to become violent.

But not Anna.

Mainly because she just didn't have any kind of fear of him.

Yata clicked his tongue in annoyance-a habit he picked up from his many encounters with 'monkey boy' from the Blue Clan.

"Of course you did something wrong!" he admonished.

"Yata-chan, what's going on?" Izumo questioned when he caught sight of their vanguard berating their princess.

This was a very unusual circumstance; since when did Yata get upset with Anna of all people? He tended to treat the girl with the respect that he would give to a person more powerful than himself in the clan, such as Izumo or the King himself.

Hence, it was rather odd that the skateboarder would act like this toward her.

Yata turned to Izumo while pointing an accusing finger at Anna.

"Kusanagi-san, Anna was flirting with some guy who wasn't Mikoto-san!" he tattled.

Anna's left eyebrow twitched.

Now she was getting irritated.

Still, she managed to maintain her neutral expression as she stated firmly, albeit expressionlessly, "I was not flirting,"

"Yes you were!"

"I was not flirting."

"_Yes, you were_! Just wait 'til Kamamoto comes in and he'll tell you how he got that bruise on his mouth!" Yata snapped.

Izumo was stunned. He even saw that Yata looked a little messed up with disheveled hair and with that hat of his at an odd angle.

"Yata-chan, why don't you tell me what happened?" Izumo suggested.

He knew Yata tended to exaggerate when something upset him. Not that he did it deliberately-there were just somethings that offended him so much that it twisted his sense of reality and he saw things in a completely misrepresented way.

"Some guy approached Anna and she went on a date with him!" Yata exclaimed.

Everyone froze when the familiar thud of a boot echoed in the room and a deceptively calm voice queried, "Oh? Anna went on a date?"

Both Yata and Izumo, in a robot-like manner, slowly turned their necks in order to see their fierce King standing at the entrance into the bar.

His hands were shoved into the pockets of his dark jeans. His white t-shirt had drawn up a bit, revealing the flat side of his stomach. In his mouth was a newly lit cigarette whose smoke curled lazily upward-a similar fashion in which his golden eyes were upon his clansmen.

He was a dangerously intimidating man.

Unlike the two men with Anna, her reaction to his presence had not been one of fear.

She simply turned to her King and lowered her head slightly in acknowledgement of him.

"Uh...yeah, she..." Yata's voice trailed off. He had been incensed a moment ago but Yata knew that there was underlying wrath beneath that calm exterior Mikoto had presented.

He himself had been angry with Anna but not so much to want to get her in serious trouble with Mikoto.

But when he thought back on the incidents earlier that day, he became enraged once more and his emotions came tumbling out as he yelled, "Some guy approached Anna in the mall and he took her out for ice-cream and the movies!"

Anna nearly slapped a hand to her face.

Was Misaki...this _**stupid**_?

"And when we tried to get her away from them, we got into a fight 'cause the guy was from the gang we're trying to get rid off!"

At least he told the truth about _that_ part.

Mikoto remained silent for a disturbingly long moment.

Then, he proceeded to walk toward Anna in an almost brooding manner...the way a lion would sometimes calmly stalk its prey before striking.

But Mikoto's blow to her was not a killing one.

Instead, he told her, "Get upstairs,"

Anna blinked up at him.

"But-"

"Do it," he cut her off.

Now he had just drawn a line between them.

That line of authority he had over her as her king-one which he did not declare outright to anyone for they could simply sense it with the kind of respect he commanded in a room.

This was a line she also understood that she must not cross.

No one else dared to do so.

But Anna was not fearful of him as others were.

So, she still pressed on, "But Mikoto has not heard what I have to say,"

Anna gasped in surprise when a look of anger flashed across his features, briefly revealing that he was indeed angry. His boot seemed to make a loud resounding sound throughout the room as he took one step toward her.

Abruptly, he caught hold of a strand of her white hair and twirled it through his fingers in a very slow, idle manner.

His behavior was not that of his usual teasing roughness this time.

It was disturbingly gentle.

Yet, she could feel anger in his touch although when he tugged on that strand of hair although it had been a very light pull.

This was his way of subtly warning her that she better damned well listen and not test his patience.

She looked up at him now, her eyes revealing her surprise at his actions while his own watched down at her coolly.

"Go to your room," he ordered as his hold on her hair loosened. He caught her chin in his hand and softly stroked the plump, tender flesh of her lower lip with his thumb. "Now," he added a bit harshly as his thumb paused and pressed down on her flesh.

When he let her go, Anna lowered her head and nodded obediently. She turned around and was about to pass Yata.

But she paused next to him.

It seemed that he had come to regret blurting out those things rashly to Mikoto.

But Anna wasn't feeling very forgiving at this moment. Thanks to him, Mikoto was angry with her now.

She watched him from the corner of her eyes in a terrifyingly silent manner which did frighten the vanguard a bit.

Then, she headed to the staircase to her room.

How annoying, to be treated like such a..._child_, by the man she loved.

* * *

To say that Anna was unhappy was understatement. She was annoyed with Yata and she was hurt by Mikoto for sending her off like that.

She couldn't even go into her room because she had accidentally locked it from the inside this morning and the spare key was somewhere in the kitchen. She did not dare go down to fetch it because Mikoto was in a bad mood.

Even she knew how to be cautious when it came to his moodiness.

The only thing left for her to do was to either go to his room-which she did not really want to do because she was not very pleased with him right now-or she could head down to the newly built room that was at the end of the hallway.

It was empty, save for a single futon on the ground and a chair to the side.

Anna did not know why Izumo had it built. He had claimed that it would be the spare room for whenever any of their clansmen wanted to sleepover, but Anna knew that was an excuse. She wondered if it was because the bartender was trying to get the second floor of the bar to be like Anna and Mikoto's apartment because he wanted them to get married.

Anna didn't ponder on the matter anymore.

She was cold, vexed and tired.

She pulled back the thick blanket on the futon and slid underneath it.

As soon as she did so, someone appeared in the entrance. There wasn't a door built there quite yet.

"Eh? Why are you here?" Izumo questioned.

"My room's locked. I don't have the key."

"Oh...I see," he said and moved to sit on a nearby chair-the only piece of furniture in the room. She was lying down with her back facing Izumo as she lay on the floor.

"I'm not upset," she informed him in a firm tone.

Izumo laughed softly. He hadn't even asked and yet she was answering his unspoken question.

"Liar," he gently chided her, even as he could clearly recall a time when she was eleven years old and she had called him the same thing.

That had been five years ago, shortly after Tatara had died and Mikoto had been taken into custody by the Blue King.

It had been a very difficult time, but through it all, Anna had maintained a strong facade as she tried to come to grip with having lost someone very dear to her, even as she had tried to hold on because she had been on the verge of losing yet another precious person.

"I'm not," she insisted. Her tone of charged just barely but there was a slight edginess that indeed confirmed that she was quite unhappy right now. She knew that Izumo must have come up to see her because he sensed it and wanted to make sure she was alright.

"You know he doesn't mean anything," Izumo tried to assure her He was referring to Mikoto. "He just acts like that because he's concerned and he just doesn't know any other way to behave. And that's not going to change."

Anna let out a quiet sigh.

"I know," she admitted. Besides sending her off to her room in a fit of anger was a rare occurrence that seemed to happen mainly during her teenage years. Therefore, realistically speaking, he actually _wasn't_ treating her like a child.

And it was quite certain that even if Mikoto did come to fully accept her as a woman one day, he would still act this way out of habit.

"Well, I suppose I better get going. I want to make sure Mikoto doesn't beat the shit out of Yata-chan. You know irritating he gets when he exaggerates."

Anna nodded.

As the bartender moved to go, Anna stopped him by voicing his name.

"Izumo."

"Hm?" He watched her from his shoulder as he neared the exit.

She was looking at him with her wide eyes.

"Thank you."

Izumo smiled and nodded before leaving the room.

* * *

Mikoto hadn't bothered to go to her room. He couldn't sense her there. He also saw Izumo coming out from the new room he had built.

Anna must be in _there_.

The king gave his second in command a frown who only responded by patting him on the shoulder. Mikoto watched him go before he entered the space.

He lifted a perfectly arched red eyebrow at where she was sleeping. Shouldn't she have just gone to her own room and stayed in her bed? But he figured that she probably had a good reason for sleeping on the futon in here.

Mikoto toed off his boots before entering.

He sighed quietly as he walked over to where she was. He stood at the foot of the sleeping mat and observed her.

She was lying on her side on a futon that was big enough to hold one. Her long white hair was spilled all around her shoulders, pooling both behind and in front of her.

Her hands where pressed together and placed under the cheek that was on the side she was lying down on.

Her skin looked porcelain and translucent and that red dress she wore on was the color of blood against her.

Mikoto moved to lie down next to her on the cold floorboards. He could sleep anywhere, anytime. That was what made his hobby so unique.

He was facing her and was able to observe her slightly parted pink lips and her thick, black eyelashes.

Mikoto pressed his hand into the side of his mass of wild red hair as he propped his head up by leaning on his elbow.

An unlit cigarette was stuck between his lips as he reached out to gather a strand of her silky white hair. Rubbing it absently between his fingers, he spoke:

"Oi, how long are you going to pretend to be asleep?"

Anna's eyes fluttered open, revealing her grey eyes that reflected red. She didn't need to ask how he knew she was awake. He had slept beside her and cuddled with her long enough to recognize her breathing pattern and know when she was awake and when she was asleep.

She blinked suddenly while Mikoto dropped her hair.

"Mikoto is lying down on the cold floor," she stated.

He shrugged in response as he used his thumb to light his cigarette.

This would not do: Mikoto should not be on the cold ground!

She took the thick comforter that had been on her and drew some of it over Mikoto. While doing so, he asked her quite calmly, "Are you still angry?"

Mikoto had to admire her composure.

Not once did she show any outward reaction to his words. All she did was deny it by saying, "I'm not angry,"

"You are."

"I'm not angry," she once more stated although a brief look of irritation crossed her features, but this was really because of his insistence that she was in a bad mood.

"Mikoto is the one who was angry," she muttered as she settled down once more, only this time a bit closer to him so that they could both share the blanket. She pulled it over her shoulder and lay her head down on the pillow again.

Mikoto released a puff of smoke and sighed. After closing his eyes briefly, he reopened them to gaze upon her pretty features.

"You cheeky brat. You went out today to go shopping with Kamamoto and Yata. They left you alone for a moment because you went to a very girly store and a guy approached you there, offering to get you a sweet bun-"

"Ice-cream," she corrected him.

"Ice-cream," he put in with much disinterest for it seemed that this was a completely tiresome topic for him to deal with, "you clearly didn't realize he was hitting on you."

Anna's head shifted slightly as she tilted it more upward to have a better look at him. "He offered to show me where the stall was,"

Mikoto snorted. The brat was too damned innocent for her own good. Didn't going to a co-ed High School teach her anything?

"Don't you know when a guy is coming on to you?" Mikoto demanded. He gave her an annoyed look.

"He told me where to go get ice-cream. So I did. I thought Rikio and Misaki would like some too and he offered to help me take it to them. He was being very nice to me."

Mikoto suppressed a sigh of exasperation.

Really, had they sheltered her this much? Did she honestly _not_ know that the guy was interested in her?

"Didn't any of those boys in school ask you out?"

There had to have been guys interested. He even remembered when he had been reverted to that fourteen year old form of his that some boys had been eying Anna in her PE uniform. Surely someone might have taken a chance!

She shook her head. "I think they were too afraid."

Mikoto frowned.

Maybe they really were.

Anna herself had created a name in her Middle School as being an exceptional martial artist. Young guys usually tended to be a bit wary of strong women. Still, there might have been some curious about her.

She was quite beautiful after all.

Unless it was that Mikoto had left such a lasting impression on them during the time he spent in Seneca that no one dared to come onto her.

Or, as Mikoto suspected, they might have tried to approach her, but she had been oblivious. She might have taken their advances to be meaningless and probably never showed much reaction.

The way she stood and acted like a mannequin might have contributed to them being a bit put off by her.

Not only that, she might have been rarely seen during free time in her High School. She spent the whole of the last term doing a triple workload so that she would not have to attend classes this term. Hence, no one probably caught up with her to ask her out.

Well, while it was good that no one had succeeded in wooing her, it did leave her inexperienced with dealing with the male population outside of her clan.

"There's no reason for you to associate with guys outside of the clan, is there?" Mikoto asked. He was not saying this because he wanted to keep Anna in a closed environment, but because he simply knew she wasn't the type to go around and become best buddies with everyone.

Anna blinked.

"Well, there's Kei and my customers at the maid cafe and-"

"I mean aside from Kei, is there any reason for you to create deep friendships with any guys outside the clan?" Mikoto clarified for her.

Anna frowned. Not really. She wasn't really a sociable person. She liked people well enough to be acquainted with them and outside her clan, there were very few she had a good relationship with. It was simply the way she was.

Years of torture and abuse did tend to make person very picky about those they kept near. Anna was not the type to form lasting relationships with just anyone as she was wary that people could easily hurt her. That was why she only had two close friends who were near to her age.

And they were really damned good friends.

"No," she answered his question.

"Then why did you let that guy approach you?"

"I didn't think he was harmful," Anna paused, "I didn't realize that he was from the gang Mikoto is trying to get rid off and I don't think he knew I was from Homra. I wasn't looking for friendship with him...he was nice to me so I was nice to him."

Mikoto sighed at her simplistic way of thinking.

Such innocence was both a blessing and a curse.

When Kamamoto and Yata had spotted sight of her with the young man, they immediately recognized that he was part of that gang they had been trying to weed out and they came at him. The guy's friends had been around and had come to his aid.

There were quite a few and Yata and Kamamoto had not wanted to cause a scene by using their powers (although the fighting itself did cause one).

They had managed to beat up a few guys and escape with Anna before the security came.

Still, the pair of fighters had sustained some bruises. Kamamoto had grown hungry on the way home and decided to stop off at a convenience store. Yata, the more pissed off one, proceeded to scold Anna all the way home as if she had been some sort of recalcitrant child.

Anna frowned. Mikoto more or less knew everything it seemed. "Did Misaki tell you all of this?"

It seemed unlikely he would because of the way he had blown things of proportion by stating that Anna had been the one flirting and that she even gone out a date with the guy. Where did he even get the idea that Anna had gone to movies when she had just spoken to the person for less than five minutes?!

Misaki was an idiot sometimes.

Mikoto snorted before he took a drag from his cigarette.

"Of course not."

"Then how do you know?"

Mikoto shrugged again. "I've known Yata long enough to guess the truth when he exaggerates like an emotionally diarrheal woman."

"Is that why you sent me here?" she asked slowly. Because he could have guess her side of the story, which was the truth of what really happened and therefore her relating anything to him might have been unnecessary.

"No," he answered.

"Then why-?"Anna stopped. Carefully she asked instead, "Does Mikoto find Misaki's crazy stories...amusing?"

"Maybe."

'Maybe' meant 'yes' in Mikoto's language.

That was really strange.

Mikoto must have been very bored today for him to be willing to listen to the skateboarder's crazy ranting.

Anna blinked at him. "Then why were you angry earlier?"

Now, Mikoto reached out and pinched her cheek hard. "Because you're too damned innocent, you brat. The only guys you should trust are your clansmen, no others."

Anna nodded.

She had to agree with that. It was only afterward she had realized what the young man's motives had been.

Anna couldn't go around using her marbles on every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, but she supposed that she needed to be a bit more cautious around the people who approached her. Some people's hearts were just so wicked that she could sense their evil a mile away.

Some, like children, were so innocent and pure that she became naturally drawn to them.

Like Tamotsu.

Such a sweet little baby.

Before, she could not always pick on these things. It was only when she grew older that she caught onto what could be called 'spillover emotions'. That was why when they had been in Middle School, she had easily picked up on Akemi's misery and had actually been given insight in the form of visions of the blond haired girl's pain and suffering.

But there were some who were just 'normal', whose intentions were neither good nor bad and this sort of neutrality hid from her what their heart really was like. It was for these sort of people she needed her marbles if she wanted to understand what they were truly like.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

Mikoto let out a sigh. He was quite sure that Anna was always going to be oblivious to nice men who wanted to take her out.

Well, Mikoto certainly didn't call them '_nice_'.

He had other words for them but they were really bad ones (_bastards, losers, wannabes_ were the nicest ones he could think of-).

"Is Mikoto still angry?" she asked bit of a tentative voice.

Mikoto looked at her and shook his head. Then, he moved and caught her shoulders in his hands. He pushed her onto her back and hovered above her.

Ah, his familiar warmth rushed over her, completely eradicating any lingering chill on her skin.

"Mikoto?" she said his name.

He was half lying on top of her with flat chest pressing against hers. Then, he moved his hand and pulled back the collar of her dress, revealing the fading purplish looking mark on her. If anything, the former poisonous wound passed for a very bad hickey.

One might assume she had a very rough boyfriend.

But Anna didn't have a boyfriend.

She had Mikoto.

And he was...her future husband?

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Mikoto observed the mark. He had a tendency to now and again pull her aside to observe its healing process himself. To a large extent, the mar to her skin was not from the wound itself, but from the way he had relentlessly suckled her flesh.

It did bother him how badly he had damaged her skin.

Yet, some other part of him-some wild, sensual aspect of him-delighted in the knowledge that he had marked her like this.

That no man had done the same.

And he would never allow for anyone else to touch her like that.

However, it still affected him that the mark may never truly fade away.

Neither would the one on her stomach.

Lowering his head, he burrowed his face between her neck and shoulder and lightly touched his lips to the sensitive skin there.

Anna was a bit used to this now.

This affectionate Mikoto who would occasionally pull her aside and give her a small cuddle or a little kiss. It seemed that he thrived on the tenderness between them and she was more than willing to give as well as accept his sweet touches.

Her arms went around his shoulders and held him to her as his thick red hair tickled her skin and his hot breath remained on her neck.

His heavy weight was bearing down more heavily on her now and Anna was starting to forget how to breathe.

Why?

Because she had to be very cautious now.

She could not forget how sensitive her body was to his, how deprived she felt of his passionate touches. As much as she loved his affection, she still had to be very careful when he got too close.

Because if he didn't break those chains that bound his passion, she was going to shatter and give in. She didn't know much that about sex but she damned well knew it had to feel good.

_The morning after Mikoto had ravished her with kisses, had come close to completely marking her as his own, Anna had stood before the mirror in her room._

_The human sized mirror reflected her nude figure. _

_Her mouth was swollen and there were a pair of teeth marks on the left of her bottom lip._

_The side of her neck was sensitive and bluish black. Her stomach shared an almost identical bruise. How interesting that Mikoto's attention on those areas had made her forget that she had been poisoned! The memory of his mouth suckling her flesh was more vivid than when she had gotten hit with the needles._

_Anna turned around now and drew her thick white hair over one shoulder._

_Her body was slender, yet it retained beautiful curves that defined her with as a woman. Her flesh was so very pale and almost markless._

_Except for the very centre of her back where there was a large red mar to her skin._

_Mikoto's work. _

_Deeply etched into her mind was the way in which he had used his mouth on her there, used his teeth to break her skin and his tongue to soothe the her warm flesh. His mouth had been so hot._

_**He** had been so hot._

All these things had happened about a month ago and yet in no way could Anna lose the memory of how Mikoto had made her into a living flame, drawing from her feelings she had never felt before with those large, manly hands of his, that lithe, hard body and his hot, wet mouth.

Mikoto drew back slightly, as if sensing a change in Anna.

His face was so close to hers that the two strands of his brilliantly red hair lightly tickled her cheeks.

Anna seemed expressionless as usual.

But...

There was a seriousness in her eyes.

No, 'seriousness' shouldn't be the way to describe it. It was like she had become fascinated with him in some sort of strange warm way. The manner in which her eyes glowed a slow, easy, warm red revealed this.

Her pink lips parted ever so slightly and Mikoto began to feel something stir within him. Somewhere to the back of his mind, he felt like something was slowly being awakened, wanting to break loose.

There was that recognizable desire in Anna's eyes which he would usually try to avoid for both their sakes. That was what was making some part of him become aroused, sensitive to the way she looked.

For she looked very much like a woman ready to be loved.

Innocent and pure but needing to be tainted.

By him.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she lifted her small hand and lightly touched his lips.

_His mouth was punishing against hers, bruising her and leaving marks on her body. _

_And she relished every one of them._

"Mikoto," she whispered his name softly as her eyes shimmered that pretty red color. Mikoto opened his mouth slightly and Anna, without realizing it, lightly pressed the very tips of her fingers against him so that she could feel his warm, tobacco infused breath.

The King shifted his head slightly so that he could take them into the heat of his mouth and lightly taste her sensitive fingers.

Anna's cheeks reddened as she gazed in fascination at what he was doing.

That handsome mouth moving softly over her fingertips.

Like a lion soothing his mate with affectionate licks.

Wait, what was she letting him do?!

No, no.

She could sense that passionate part of him awakening. She had been entrusted by Mikoto to hold back, to keep their desires at bay!

But she was so entranced by him, but the gentle way his tongue was laving her flesh in such a soft, light, teasing manner that she could not draw back.

Thankfully, he released her fingers from his wet hold and pressed a soft kiss against them before capturing the wrist of that hand and pressing it to the side of her head, on the pillow. Lowering his own head, Mikoto slowly pressed his kisses along the side of her face. He kept going with sweet tenderness from her temple, the curve of her cheek to that little spot under her chin.

But his mouth, she wanted his mouth on hers.

She wanted another ravishing kiss.

That passionate side to him had not quite awakened yet and therefore the affectionate aspect of him was in control. Anna was both thankful and unhappy about it. She was being tempted like Eve and the apple as Mikoto was her temptation.

He was going to be her sin.

* * *

Yata had felt badly for the way he had behaved. He had gotten upset on Mikoto's behalf but it seemed that truthfully, his King hadn't really cared much. He seemed to figure that Anna had acted in innocence.

And that made sense.

Anna would never deliberately flirt with another guy.

She was Mikoto-san's after all!

The young man had been informed that Anna was in the new guest-room and therefore he headed up there apologize to her.

When he arrived at the entranceway, he froze.

Anna was lying flat on her back on the futon with Mikoto's upperbody covering hers. Yata could only make out the back of his wild red head as his face seemed to be pressing against Anna's neck. The white haired female's pale, slender arms were around the King.

One of his hands was on her stomach. Yata could make out the silver ring Mikoto always wore as the thumb of that hand lightly stroked her tummy through the material of her red dress.

Anna caught sight of Yata from over Mikoto's back.

"Misaki-" she began but he shook his head hurriedly.

"I'm sorry! I'll come later!" he cried out before running away as if in terror.

Mikoto lifted his head upon hearing Yata's voice. He looked over his shoulder in time to see his vanguard running away while exclaiming something like, '_Why is it always me?!_'

Mikoto didn't really know what the skateboarder meant by that, only that the short fellow had oftentimes walked into Anna and Mikoto cuddling in the past and had seemed to feel very uncomfortable about it.

Anna was grateful for the distraction though. Just how much could she contain herself when the hot, masculine body of her king was atop hers, when he was touching her so gently, even as she knew just what his hands were capable of doing to her?

Her king returned his attention to her and buried his nose in her hair. Instead of nuzzling her as he usually would, he breathed in the clean freshwater scent that she always seemed to naturally exude from there.

Like purity.

He proceeded to rub his nose as he normally would and Anna sighed in relief at the relaxing feel that washed over her from his tender touches.

Mikoto shifted from her and moved to lie flat on his back. This time, he was half on the futon. But, he didn't really care as he placed his arms behind his head and glared up at the empty ceiling. The room still needed some work to be done on it as it did not even have a lightbulb or power outlet.

It was simply an empty room with a futon and a chair.

"Mikoto?"

"Hm?"

"I'd like to go somewhere tomorrow," Anna told him.

He did not spare her a glance, nor did he speak. He simply waited for her to talk.

"I'd like to go..._alone_," she added cautiously.

Still, Mikoto did not turn her way.

Probably because he knew what tomorrow was.

"Is it alright?" she continued, troubled that he had not replied to her request.

"Yeah."

He didn't ask where she was going either.

Because he probably knew that too.

"Take your marbles," he advised her after a moment.

She knew what meant by that: she would be blind tomorrow if it snowed.

* * *

It didn't snow.

It hadn't for quite a while.

Winter normally presented itself as bleak and lifeless for Anna. In her world of black and white with shades of grey and the only brilliance being the color red, winter was not a fascinating month for her. She liked the rest of seasons well enough. Especially early Fall since the leaves of some trees tended dry and curl up into an interesting form of red.

In Japan, there was one day that showed itself to be different from all the others in the wintry months.

Today was that day.

Today her favorite color was everywhere.

What was today?

Valentine's Day!

Red hearts, red roses, red candy wrappers!

And chocolates.

Lots and lots and lots of chocolates!

Some chocolates would probably freeze and become stone-hard due to the terribly cold day Valentine's Day had presented itself as.

Although it was not snowing, it was simply so damned icy that the air seemed to almost literally bite at naked arms and legs.

But for the members of Homra, today was also the day that they would have celebrated the twenty seventh birthday of the person who had been their heart in Homra.

Today was a day of mourning, of true heartbreak for the people of the Red Clan.

It would have been wonderful to give Tatara twenty-seven roses, twenty-seven hugs and twenty-seven chocolates all wrapped in red ribbons.

At least that was what Anna thought as she found herself standing alone before the grave of her precious deceased friend.

She was wearing on a velvety red dress that had black buttons going down the front. It fell to her knees and she made sure to wear on white stockings with her red heels to guard her against the frosty air. The sleeves of the dress were short and puffed but Anna wore on a white long sleeved shirt beneath her dress to cover her skin.

On her hands were red knitted gloves and about her neck was a matching scarf.

So cold it was that she felt her ears were going to freeze and fall off!

In order to protect them, she had to pull on a red winter cap. As with her gloves and scarf, the material was thick and knitted and she was able to cover her alabaster head and ears with it. It looked a bit like a halo atop her but she looked quite pretty still. Her hair fell down her shoulders and around her back as she gazed at the tombstone before her.

In her arms was a bouquet of red roses, baby's breath and red carnations.

At this moment, flower meanings were irrelevant to her. All that mattered was that these were the flowers she would like to place on his tombstone in memory of the ones he had given to her, and the joyous moments they had with them.

The wind blew coldly and Anna shivered a bit.

Still, she would not be deterred.

She should have come here more often instead of the handful of times each year.

But it was always so painful, even after all this time, to stand before his grave and remember at every visit that Totsuka Tatara had been cruelly taken away from them.

Anna knelt before the tombstone and pressed her gloved fingers against the cold brass plate which had 'Totsuka Tatara' written across it.

She closed her eyes briefly and remembered all those memories she had of him. Of when she had first come to Homra and he welcomed her warmly. The way he had often waited on her hand and foot. His cheerful smiles, his enthusiasm regarding his hobbies.

The way he understood each and every single of one his clansmen and by simply smiling, he could light up their day.

Tatara had been her best friend in truth.

And it pained her to this day that he was gone.

What would he have been like at age twenty seven? Probably the same grinning, lovable man.

Would their lives have been different had he still been alive?

Certainly.

But they had learned to live on without him.

Despite this, there was desire in her heart for her to hear Tatara's laugh once more, to see his warm smile.

Today she would have given him chocolates for Valentine's Day, just as she had long ago. Ever since he had died, Valentine's Day had become a day when everyone at Homra pretended everything was just fine.

That nothing was wrong.

That it was not the birthday of a deceased comrade.

What should be expected of men anyway? They weren't too good at expressing negative feelings, particularly sad ones.

Especially the guys at Homra.

The only negative emotion they were truly good at displaying was rage.

Anna did understand that they just did not know what to do. Should they collectively mourn the passing of their friend every year on a day that was supposed to be meant for lovers?

Or should they just pay a brief respect and pretend that today wasn't really Tatara's birthday?

Thankfully, Anna's own birthday fell the day after Tatara died and therefore they could still pay remembrance on that day to him instead of grieving on Anna's birthday. Not only that, they were very much aware that Totsuka Tatara would have been disappointed in his clansmen if they dared to make their princess's birthday a depressing day.

Not that they secretly did not grieve and think about all the wonderful ideas he might have come up with to celebrate her special day.

Anna released a soft sigh as she lay the flowers upon her clansman's grave. She saw the shimmering brass plate that had his name,_ 'Totsuka Tatara'_, written across it.

She lifted her hand with the red knitted glove on the cold metal as she stooped down. She closed her eyes briefly as the better days of the second half of her childhood flashed before her eyes.

Totsuka Tatara, the one who brightened up their lives.

Whose red was small, but ever so warm.

The one who was weak, but made everyone strong.

"Anna," came a familiar voice.

Her eyes slowly opened.

She was not surprised to find _him_ here.

Who was he?

Mikoto of course.

The reason why he hadn't had a problem with letting her come out alone had been because he knew he would find her here.

What did make her eyes widen slightly though, was that he was not by himself.

When she stood up and turned around, she saw a wide variety of red, each unique in their own way. They were several of her clansmen, come to visit the grave of their dearly departed friend.

Mikoto stood in front wearing on his favorite outfit with the white t-shirt, dark jeans and his fur-lined jacket.

Anna hurried over to Mikoto's side.

He gazed down at her for a long moment. Never once did their eyes falter on each other.

Anna was the first to try to look away but Mikoto caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to keep her eyes on him so that he could observe her features and know for sure that she was alright.

Seemingly satisfied, he released her and patted her head kindly before walking over to the grave himself.

Just as she had, he stooped down and observed the grave.

Then, without warning, everyone knelt before the grave, bowing with respect as a quiet prayer was said for the fallen man.

* * *

"Having a good time, Kei-chan, Akemi-chan?" Izumo queried.

The pair who were hiding behind a marble angel, observing Anna and her clansmen, jumped in fright. They spun around at the sight of Anna's guardian.

"K-Kusanagi-sensei!" they gasped simultaneously.

Izumo lifted a hand in protest.

"Stop. I'm not your sensei now. Just call me normally," he told them and the pair nodded.

Izumo grinned. "Are you two spending Valentine's Day together?"

Akemi made a disgusted noise while Kei turned away with his nose in the air.

"As if! We we're working double time today because a lot of people are coming into the cafe to celebrate. We're expecting a huge customer turn out today and we may not have enough baked items. Sayuri-san sent us to a bakery she knows well here to collect an order of cakes for her," Kei informed him.

Izumo gave slight frown.

Reasonably, he stated, "How sad. I thought you both might have ended your single lives now. Surely you can't remain a bachelor forever, Kei. Nor you a single woman, Akemi,"

The pair just looked at him wordlessly.

Because Izumo knew their feelings for each other and he wanted to heckle Kei a bit, he reached out and put an arm around Akemi.

Last time he did this to anyone, Mikoto had been close to burning him.

Kei was pretty harmless though.

"How sad for a beautiful girl like you to be working. Why not drop by the bar, Akemi-chan? I'll mix you a non-alcoholic drink," he suggested. He was a smooth man. Perhaps he was not a player like Chitose had been before Maria, but he did know how to treat a lady.

Kei threw off his arm and hugged Akemi to him protectively. "What's an old guy like you doing, hitting on a kid? Pedophile!"

"Now, now, there's no reason to become jealous," Izumo chided him. He was trying his best to sound serious but it was damned difficult when he wanted to burst out in laughter at the young man's obvious form of envy.

"I'm not jealous! What are you interested in her for anyway? All she does is play otome games in her free time!"

Akemi gasped at his revelation of some her otaku-like behavior. She shoved his arms away from her.

"What about you, stupid? All you do is play_ Brother's Conflict_! You even purchased the novel!"

Kei pressed his fingers into his ears.

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Liar! I saw you reading it in your free time! JJ doesn't even know, does he?!"

"Leave my brother out of this! I bet you chose Kaname-san's route, didn't you? You always fall for flirty types! And you'll probably for that flirty old man too!" Kei exclaimed.

Akemi was mortified.

Izumo was trying to figure out what they were saying.

Otome games?

Kaname?

_Flirty men_?

"For your information, I didn't choose Kaname's route yet!"

Kei caught her by the neck. "Of course not. Fuuto-kun should be your type. The tsundere-type whose sadism you'll love,"

Izumo's eyes widened slightly.

_Sadism_?

What the heck were these high school kids learning about?!

"Who cares for that spoiled brat! I want Tsubaki! Tsubaki is awesome!"

Kei spun Akemi around and gripped her shoulders tightly. "Tsubaki? _Tsubaki_?! That pushy bastard?! Fuuto is so much better! Your taste in men is rotten, that's why you're still single!"

Akemi quieted then and she gave Kei a long, hard look which surprised him.

Slowly, she admitted. "You're right. My taste in men _is_ rotten. That's why I'm still single."

Kei was shocked at her words.

Did...did Akemi just _agree_ with him?

Had he hurt her?

But she didn't even look hurt!

In fact, she seemed as though some part of her had somehow compromised with some sort of understanding.

He didn't get it.

What was going on in that girl's head?!

Akemi's PDA rang suddenly. She answered it.

It was Sayuri-san.

"Alright. I'll head there now," Akemi said to her and hung up.

"Uh...was that boss-lady?" Kei questioned.

The girl nodded.

"You can stay here and chat with Kusanagi-san, Kei. The bakery said we can come now, everything is ready. I'll call you when I finish the transactions and paperwork. Please tell Anna I said hello and that I'm sorry we didn't get to speak," Akemi told him. She bowed politely to Izumo before leaving.

Kei lifted a hand, almost as if to stop her.

Her behavior had been a bit formal.

Polite.

_Distant_.

"What's with her?" he murmured aloud.

"Maybe she's learning that there are certain matters she needs to deal with in order to move forward in life," Izumo answered behind him.

Kei jumped.

"Huh? What are you still doing here?" he demanded.

Izumo chuckled and patted the young man's head.

Kei, without a doubt, still resembled Tatara.

The smile.

The way he talked.

The way his body was built with that tall, lean, lanky form.

In fact, Kei was almost as tall as Tatara had been.

Izumo frowned. "You look a lot paler than last time I saw you. Are you taking proper medication to help with your anemia?"

Kei nodded. "Yeah. I guess the weather is probably bothering me. It's extra-cold today you know,"

Izumo made a soft noise of agreement as his eyes searched out Anna and Mikoto in the graveyard. They were both standing now and Mikoto had placed an arm around Anna and tugged her to his side when he saw her shiver. Their clansmen instinctively gathered around them protectively, cocooning their princess with their warmth.

"So you play otome games and you think I have the playboy personality?" Izumo queried.

Kei froze.

Oh right.

He and Akemi had argued in front of him.

"I don't really...what I mean to say is..."

Izumo chuckled as he lifted up what looked like an old fashioned video camera. "I'm a gentleman, Kei, not a playboy. I do have a lot of respect for women and I know how to treat them well."

That just sounded like a roundabout way of admitting that he was a ladies' man.

"Ah...I see...say, Kusanagi-san, why are you holding that?"

Izumo pointed the camera in the direction of his clansmen.

"February fourteeth. Eleven a.m," he stated before turning the camera to Kei. "Say something, why don't you?"

Kei lifted his arms in protest as he smiled cheerfully. "I'm camera-shy!"

Izumo lowered the camera and handed it to him.

"Here, try it," he offered.

Kei hesitated.

"It's alright," Izumo assured him.

The young man nodded and accepted it.

It had an interesting feel, holding it up like that. He looked through the lens at the sight of Anna who was listening to something her chubby clansman was saying. Her king was standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets as he listened in as well.

The camera had an interesting feel.

There was nice to hold it.

And it was probably a really cool item to use to capture memories with.

However, something felt uncomfortable about it.

More like, he didn't see the point of using such an old fashioned instrument.

He handed it back to Izumo.

"What do you think?" Izumo asked carefully. The bartender had found the camera when cleaning up. He had brought it along with him this morning to show to Anna. It was pure coincidence that he had it with him when he had come across Kei in the cemetery.

Kei shrugged. "I like the idea that you can capture moments with it," he admitted slowly. Then, with more vigor, he whipped out his PDA and went to the video camera application. "But isn't a PDA better? Higher quality and it can be stored on a computer! I think this is more fun!"

Izumo was surprised for a moment.

For certain he had thought that Kei might have enjoyed using an old fashioned camera, very much in the same manner Tatara had.

However, the young man seemed to have a preference for newer technology. He supposed it might have to do with his vast knowledge of computers and the way he kept up to date with technology.

Oh, Izumo knew of these things.

He did keep close tabs on Anna's friends.

Well, while Kei showed a difference between himself and Tatara by preferring to use a PDA as opposed to an old video recorder, there was one similarity the two had.

_Enthusiasm_.

Kei suddenly lowered his phone and turned to Izumo. He had a curious expression on his face that was disturbingly reminiscent of Tatara's.

"Kusanagi-san, why is everyone here? All your clansmen?"

Izumo snorted.

"I think I should be asking you that," he remarked.

Kei grinned.

"Akemi and I asked Anna where she would be today. If it was possible, maybe we could pass by and see her. She mentioned the park next to the graveyard but we didn't think she would actually be here. As we were passing we saw her but she seemed so lost in her thoughts, we thought it might be rude to approach her. It's a bit late now and I'll have to meet Akemi so I guess it makes no sense to try to hang out with her now," he explained.

"I see," Izumo remarked and pulled out a cigarette. He offered one to Kei, knowing he was old enough to smoke now.

Kei, to Izumo's surprise, accepted it.

The bartender didn't question when or how the younger person had started.

"Today he would have been twenty seven years old," Izumo explained.

Kei frowned after accepting the lighter from Izumo.

"He?" Then it dawned on him who it was. "Oh.."

Izumo nodded as he took a drag from his cigarette. "We came to pay our respects to him. We still miss him,"

Kei smiled kindly then.

"But he lives on in your hearts, right? Your memories of him can never be erased."

* * *

Anna turned to Izumo when he neared.

"Izumo," she said his name as she stepped toward him and away from Mikoto and the circle he and the rest of the clansmen had created around her.

He smiled at her.

"I thought I sensed Akemi."

"You did, but she had to leave," Izumo said to her as he glanced over at Tatara's grave. He gave a silent prayer and smiled sadly before turning to Anna. "Kei went to see her just now. They said they will see you in Seneca soon."

Anna frowned as they walked home.

Her hand was in Mikoto's elbow as they strolled through the streets.

She had felt Akemi's presence nearby.

Strangely enough, she hadn't sensed Kei's.

How odd.

But then again, after becoming surrounded by her clansmen's presence, it might have become difficult for her to pick up on his.

* * *

The camera rolled, displaying the images before everyone in the bar.

At first it was blank with only the very familiar voice of someone dear saying, _'August 13th...12:45 pm...'_

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. The final chapter of Memory of Red was released by Aqua Scans. Thank you Mizouji and the rest of the team at Aqua Scans for their hard work in bringing it to us.**

****August 13th, as you all probably know, is/was Mikoto's birthday. The next chapter of this story will deal with his birthday. I know it is a little late coming, but I am basing it on the tweets made by Pink from the Gora team earlier this week. I read the translation of those tweets on the tumblr of followmeandsmile. Please be sure to have a look at it.**

*****Brother's Conflict is a current reverse harem anime that is based on a novel series created by Atsuko Kanase. It also has an otome game developed by Idea Factory . It's really, really enjoyable (at least I think so).**

**By the way, the reason why Yata ran off saying 'Why is it always me' is based on the chapter from Growing Pains called 'What Yata Saw'. **

* * *

**I spent some time reading some more Anna/Mikoto stories. It doesn't really make any sense that I continued recommending any stories because then I would probably end up recommending every happy Anna/Mikoto story in the archive (and I think most people have read them).**

**I don't really read tragedies with Mikoto dying because I'll end up weeping bitter tears :'(**

**I will still mention these stories because they're really nice to read:**

***'Spectra' by Ambivalencia. A very nicely done, well-written oneshot. **

****'Where She Belongs' by RoseShadow21 is a cute oneshot, good to read if you want to look at Anna's interactions with her clansmen.**

*****'Distance' by sakura saya is a multi-chaptered fic that I think has a lot of potential plot-wise. The author has not updated in a while though. Hopefully he/she will eventually. **

*******For all those who love Izumo/Seri, there's a really awesome story called 'You Will Be the Death of Me' by HuhuChocolate. Although the author has not updated in a while, I hope he/she will because it really is an enjoyable read. **

**There are lots more stories I know out there, but sadly I won't be able to read as much as I want to now that my short holiday is over. **

**If there's a story you would like to recommend to me with an Anna/Mikoto, Seri/Izumo or Seri/Reisi pairing you can let me know. I will make sure to have a look at it the next time I dig around through the archive because I just chose only a couple to read although there's a lot more stories out there that I'm quite sure are really well done.**

* * *

_**Thanks for reading, and thank you for always supporting and encouraging me**_

_**Thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and review this story.**_

_**For those who reviewed:**_

_**AngelGirl0200: Aww...Ily too! I actually wrote that part ages ago because I was so enthusiastic about it! It won't come out for another couple of chapters though. There's a plot I'm deciding on right now that may have a bit to do with what you'd really like to see, but if I add it in, the story may end up being a lot longer than I intend it to be. I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to short that plot and if I can, I will add it in :) Aww...I'm so happy you like my story so much! Thank you!**_

_**manga-life: Hi there, and thanks for reading. I'm pleased you were able to catch up and that you like the way the story is going, as well as the ending for the last chapter :)**_

_**DBerryNia: You have an excellent eye! Thanks for picking up on that error for me! I originally had Sailor Mars, but for some reason when I was editing I got confused and put in Sailor Mercury instead. I made the changes. Thanks so much for pointing that out! I'm also glad you liked the happy Homra gathering :)**_

_**Indochine: I'm glad you thought the rooster part was funny! As well as the scheming Izumo and cosplaying Dewa :) I added a bit more Akemi and Kei in this chapter and I hope you enjoyed their little interaction. There's definitely more on those two to come! Thanks for your kind words regarding how I write the story. I truly, truly appreciate them. Thank you :)**_

_**LadyCassie: I didn't write in a part with Anna and her hangover, sorry :( But I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless! Have you read the translations?**_

_**FragileBlueButterflies: I'm glad you liked the rooster part! I don't mind the short review, I'm just happy you enjoyed the chapter :)**_

_**Anon: Raggedy-Anna!**_

_**Wonderland Reminiscence: I'm happy you thought the last chapter was enjoyable! Did you like the mention of Brother's Conflict in this chapter? I know you like Tsubaki too :) Kaname is definitely one of my favorite brothers. I actually love all of them! Ema has so many of them. All to herself. I'm jealous :(Boris Airay was from the otome game based on Alice in Wonderland, right? I've had a look at some of the manga with it. They're really nice and Boris is a cool character :) Lol, Saruhiko would definitely be the yandere!**_

_**Bre Renee: I'm pleased you liked those parts! I actually hadn't really realized that it was a while since they had such a happy gathering until a couple of people mentioned it to me. And it's true lol. Aww...lil bros are really bit difficult to handle, aren't there? My older bro is a decent guy now but he does irritate me sometimes. But I wouldn't trade him for the world. I'm sure you feel that way bout your bro too :) Ok, the only spoiler i can give you is that you will like one of the last chapters in the story. That's all I can say ;) Thanks for your kind words, I really appreciate them! PS: How has life on the internet been for you? Found any awesome shows that you like?**_

_**Arius the Heretic: The kiss was actually based on the first time they did kiss :) Don't worry, I understand about college life with exams and those projects and midterms! Thinking about my own past experiences with them makes me shudder! (No wonder you're laughing a bit crazily!) Lol, hope you enjoy your break! XD**_

_**friedchicken: Yes, the earrings and the ring were what he gave to her for her birthday :)**_

_**LindyLinn: Glad you enjoyed the chapter! Hm..good question about how to pronounce Akemi's name. Normally I go with 'Aa-ke-mi' because there is only one 'e' rather than two in the spelling. I'm not that great with Japanese pronunciation (despite years of watching Japanese dubbed anime).**_

_**Hannah Scholte: Actually, it isn't really coincidence because 'Mikoto' and 'Kushina' are both names that reference back to Japanese mythology. In fact (based on what I've read on the internet so please keep in mind that I'm no expert), Susanoo-no-Mikoto was a Shinto god and his siblings were called Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu. That's why you'll find those names associated with the Uchiha clan. 'Kushinada-hime' was actually the human wife of Susanoo-no-Mikoto who he rescued from being devoured by a serpent. He temporarily turned her into a comb so that she could be with him when he fought the serpent (much like how Mikoto keeps Anna with him when they go out). I suppose based on Japanese mythology, Anna is Mikoto's wife? Lol. Anyway, Kusanagi is an important sword mentioned in the stories and want to know something else interesting? 'Izumo' is the name of the area where Kushinada's family resided and it also contained the an entrance to hell. 'Tatara' is also the name of another sword from the mythology, just as Kusanagi is another sword. So a lot of things in K project with the red clan seems to be related to the mythology. Other animes and mangas are inspired by these stories as well, so that's why it's not really coincidence. As for Orihime and Grimmjow, Grimmjow may remind you of Mikoto because he's also related to a large cat (Panther I think) just as Mikoto is related to a large cat as well (lion). I'm not sure about Orihime though. Maybe because she has special, unique powers? You made some good comparisons though :)**_

_**Flower117: I'm pleased you enjoyed all those moments in the last chapter, with the way everything changed for better for Anna :) Seri and Izumo made a really cute couple in that pic :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: You are back! YAY! I missed you! I'm glad that the card made you laugh and that 21 was your favorite chapter. I'm also really happy that you enjoyed the part with Fluffy! As well as the interaction between Anna and Mikoto when Anna got drunk :) I don't mind that you put it all in one review. It means a lot to me that you took the time to read and review because I remember that you mentioned having exams around this time. I hope all is well with you :)**_

_**creativeactive: I understand where you're coming from with your preference for the innocent affection as opposed to heavy sexuality between them. I also understand what you're saying when you find that there's more chemistry between them when it comes to the innocent affection. Those parts always seem to be a lot easier to write for me as well. Probably because I'm not accustomed to writing about heavy sex. I'm glad you liked that part when Anna told Mikoto she loved him. No, they actually haven't really shared a word of love quite yet, but perhaps they will eventually ;)**_

_**Mikoto's wife: Aww...I'm so happy that you love this story! It really pleases me! Thanks so much for your lovely words, and thank you for reading and reviewing. I truly appreciate it! I guess I also wanted K to have a story like this as well, but because I knew it probably wouldn't, I just wrote how I thought things would go. Thanks again :)**_

**Thanks again for reading. **

**God bless :)**


	24. A Special Day II

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: _****_*I know I'm about a week late on this topic since this chapter has a bit on Mikoto's birthday. It is largely based on the tweets made last week by Pink from the Gora team. I read the translation from the tumblr of someone called followmeandsmile. A big thank you to him/her._**

**_*Also, it is based on the poster that was released for Mikoto's birthday._**

**_*This chapter has a lot of flashbacks. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

**Chapter 24: A Special Day II**

_No one was really aware of this, but the first person to visit Tatara's grave today had been Izumo. _

_He stood before his comrade's tombstone, thinking about all the different ways Mikoto changed since Anna and how he comes home more early now. _

"_You remember before Anna first came to Homra, Mikoto would disappear for days from the bar and no one would really know where he went off to? Hanging around pubs and who knows where else...then when Anna joined us and she started living in the bar, he made sure to stay home so that she was never alone. Remember how he even offered to get up early and make her breakfast? Even if we thought that good habits such as proper meals would rub off on the king who just eats when he feels like it, I think the truth is that his bad eating habits would have rubbed off on her," Izumo chuckled. _

_He stooped beside the grave and absently brushed aside some dirt from the tombstone. He released a sigh. _

"_And now it's Mikoto whose always bullying Anna to eat. Ironic huh? He doesn't even go out that often at night. Well, there was one time recently when he did and I think it used to upset Anna a lot. Perhaps that's why he's around more often now I guess. And their relationship is so much better now."_

_Izumo became sad now as he pressed his hand on the tombstone now, imagining that it was his friend's shoulder._

_They had been like brothers. _

_Tatara was the fun, warm loving brother while Izumo was the more serious and cautious but still very much caring brother. Mikoto could be considered a big bro too. He was the badass brother who no one messed with. Grumpy and sleepy all the time, giving hardly any regard to anyone...except the littlest on in their family: Anna._

"_There's so much you're missing out on! Yata getting a girlfriend, Chitose actually marrying-to Maria Yubikri of all people. And he has a son now! A son!" Izumo laughed, and suddenly became sober. "and you're not able to see the way Anna has blossomed into a beautiful woman. She's no longer a cute little girl but an amazing, gorgeous woman. A woman who Mikoto is worthy of. Everyday they seem closer and I think about all the things you would have to say about them and all the pranks you would pull on Mikoto. Sometimes I even try to improvise and do some of the stupid things you would do, like get them to kiss or something of the sort. I guess it's the only way that I can feel that you're still with us because you would do things like that just to see how they would react.__"_

_Before Izumo knew it, a tear was sliding down his face._

_This surprised him and he quickly wiped it away._

_Although he was usually the one who kept his composure during the most trying situations, when he was alone, he did tend to show more of what he really felt._

"_You're inscribed into everyone of us and I know that someday we'll meet again. Maybe not in this life, but perhaps in the afterlife. If there's a heaven out there, I'm sure its gates must have opened for you."_

_Izumo was startled when he felt a hand press on his shoulder._

_He glanced up and saw a familiar attractive woman. _

_He grinned. _

"_Seri-chan, how nice to see you!" he remarked and stood up._

_The curvaceous female frowned. _

"_It isn't easy, is it?" she asked quietly. She did not give him pity for she knew it was not what he would want. Instead she offered him understanding and warmth. _

_He sighed. "It isn't. We just learn to live with it,"_

_She nodded and handed something to him. _

_Anko filled truffles._

* * *

Anna sat beside Mikoto on the couch. His arms were widespread over the backrest and although he did not touch her, she could feel his warmth around her.

At various parts of the bar, her clansmen were seated. Izumo behind the counter, Kamamoto and Yata in front, while Eric, Chitose, Dewa and Fujishima sat at a table.

Izumo had decided that perhaps they should play some of Tatara's old films. The purpose of him taping everyone was to preserve their memories of their happiest moments. Thus far, they had not done Tatara's wish any justice as they had only played some of the films shortly after his death.

The one currently being shown was labelled in Tatara's fancy scrawl, 'King's Birthday'.

For the first time in years, everyone was together to hear the familiar tone of his light hearted cheerful voice say, 'August 13th, 12:45 pm...' the voice stopped and images drew up.

The first one was of Anna standing on a chair behind the counter with Izumo beside her as she carefully placed some halved strawberries atop a double layered vanilla cake that had pale yellow frosting.

* * *

**_Five and a half years ago:_**

"You ought to come help out too you know," Izumo said.

Behind his camera, Tatara chuckled.

"But you're all having so much fun!" Tatara replied cheerfully.

"But Totsuka-san did a lot with us earlier today! He was the one who helped bake all these cakes!" Yata exclaimed as happily as he frosted another cake while Kamamoto sliced more strawberries. There were a total of four cakes in all.

Everyone had been so enthusiastic of the anticipation of their beloved Red King's special day that they had perhaps gone a bit overboard on the cake.

And presents.

The bar was laden on the counter and chairs with gifts that were wrapped in brightly, brilliantly colored paper.

"Today is going to be so awesome!" Yata continued, hardly able to contain his joy.

Anna also seemed to be taking this day very seriously with the idea in mind that she wanted for her precious King's birthday to be absolutely perfect.

Just by the way she focused silently on the task of decorating the cakes was enough to display that it was very important to her that Mikoto have a wonderful day with them. Perhaps it was because she understood how much turmoil went on inside of Mikoto and she hoped that for today at least, they would be able to take his mind of it.

"Oh my, Anna looks so pretty today. Did you change your outfit just for King's birthday?" Tatara couldn't help but tease.

The only outward reaction she showed to his words was the way she stiffened momentarily. Anna's outfit actually had not changed much. She had simply traded in a simpler version of her heavily layered dress for one whose layers were not so much, nor the sleeves so long and flayed. The red and black dress's sleeves came up to her wrists and held there and it seemed to have just one layer. On her head as well was the absence of her usual little hat.

She actually wore a lilac headband to keep her hair out of the cake, but Tatara had seen the pretty little hair accessory she would be wearing later.

"You're breaking her concentration," Izumo chided him with a lopsided frown before he moved to the refrigerator to fish out more strawberries for Kamamoto to slice.

"Ah...Totsuka-san, everything is nearly ready. Where is the king?" the slimmed down, handsome Kamamoto Rikio asked.

Tatara lowered his camera, revealing his thin, good-looking face.

Thoughtfully, he remarked, "I'm not sure. I haven't seen him this morning. You did tell him to stay home, right?"

His question was directed at Izumo who had found the strawberries. "I _did_ tell him to stay in."

_"Don't go out tomorrow," the bartender said to his King._

_Mikoto was standing by the staircase. He didn't question why, he merely shrugged and headed up to go to bed._

* * *

_**Currently:**_

Everyone watched the screen display the image of the bar that was beautifully decorated with red and white and gold balloons, long red streamers and a wide array of beautiful gifts. The table in the closed bar area that was set between the two couches was covered with a white tablecloth and three of the four cakes were placed on it.

There were fine pieces of silverware upon it, some small plates, a bottle of wine and a bottle of bourbon.

_Totsuka's voice rang out in the bar, "Ah...and now, we have the big moment! Here's Izumo ready to serve us drinks! Misaki adding a final touch to the decorations...ah, Chitose-san, why are you forcing Kamamoto to eat that cake?" _

_Chitose had a hand clutching hard at the back Kamamoto's head of thick yellow hair while he held a fork with a huge chunk of cake to the younger man's mouth. _

"_Look at how thin he is! I can't allow him to waste away! Eat the damned cake you unhealthy tin-man!"_

"_Ah! A bad case of jealousy!" Tatara remarked and swung away to set the camera despite Chitose's denial of any sort of envy on his part._

"_And now, for the star of the show: our wonderful, amazing...King?"_

_Tatara's voice trailed off when he directed the lens at Anna who was sitting alone at the counter of the bar. She had removed her apron and the headband had been replaced by a hair band that had red, lacy ribbons on it. Although her face was blank of any emotion, the way her eyes shimmered slightly and the very slight way her mouth thinned indicated that she was upset. _

"_Eh? Where's the man of the hour?" Tatara questioned. He was certainly quite puzzled as to why the person who the celebration was being thrown for, was not present. _

_Izumo picked up a glass which he proceeded to polish absently while retaining a grim expression on. _

"_That stupid guy. I told him to stay home but he clearly forgot. Obviously he doesn't seem to even be aware that today is his birthday."_

* * *

_**Five and a half years ago:**_

Mikoto had awakened to a bad mood today.

It was going to rain and he thought that the weather suited the way he was feeling right now.

Not wanting to have to deal with anyone today and simply wanting to be alone, the King left the bar without anyone's knowledge. He hadn't even paid much attention to his surroundings as he had left.

His mind was usually so far away from noticing physical changes around him so he hadn't even realized that the place he resided in was decorated.

There was another bar that he frequented when he needed a change of scenery from Homra.

Unwittingly, as he touched the door to enter, a familiar voice mocked, "Well, well. I hadn't expected you to be here. Don't you have your own bar where that sharp tongued man serves you anything you want, for _free_?"

Mikoto sighed wearily, not even bothering to spare the man behind him a look. "Munakata...are you stalking me?"

Reisi walked over to stand beside Mikoto. "Hn. As if I'd follow you around. I have better things to do than to breathe in the polluted air you give off, Suoh."

Mikoto smirked now. "If you hate me so much, you can always leave, _Munakata_."

"I won't have myself displaced by your presence, _Suoh_."

The air around them crackled with tension, only to be broken when someone pulled open the door, letting out the unique scent of thick cigarette smoke and alcohol that only bars seemed to give off.

"Uh..." the patron went, unsure of what to say.

Especially when the two taller men narrowed their eyes at him.

The man lifted his arms defensively and ran off, terrified of the dangerous aura these two gave off.

"After you, Munakata," Mikoto stated as he pushed open the door for him.

Reisi smirked as he moved past him. "You never seemed to be the gentlemanly type, Suoh."

"I'm nice to women sometimes."

Reisi stiffened.

The bastard.

Suoh always liked to poke fun at his feminine face. The Blue King did a quick internal struggle with himself, against pulling out his sword on the Red King or ignoring is insults.

He suddenly recalled that he was dressed in casual clothing and did not have his sword with him.

This enabled him to lean more toward ignoring his fellow King's remarks. Reisi retorted, "Hmph, I always thought you scared away women."

Mikoto took no offense on that jab.

It was sort of true anyway.

Even if he was a gorgeous man, women were scared to approach him because he looked like he was from the yakuza.

The bar was dark with there were several customers.

Mikoto took a seat a table and waited to be served. He frowned when Reisi sat opposite him at the same table.

"Huh? I thought you couldn't stand the same air as me."

"There's nowhere else to sit so I must endure your presence for now."

Mikoto snorted. "Not a friendly man, are you, Munakata? Why don't you socialize with some of the other people in here. They may become attracted to your womanly face."

"I don't feel very sociable today, Suoh," Reisi answered. The waiter approached them and seemed to be a bit nervous.

Although he did not know that he was in the presence of two of the most powerful men in Japan, he did sense something odd about them and it made the newbie nervous.

"M-May I take your order?" he offered.

"Turkey. Double," Mikoto replied.

"Martini," Munakata decided on.

As the waiter went away, Reisi couldn't help but comment, "How unusual for you to come to a bar all alone today. If you wanted to be away from your clansmen so badly, a hostess club might have been more suitable for you,"

"Huh? Why would I want to go to a hostess club?"

Mikoto was quite confused.

"Ah, but I suppose it may bother your conscience a bit if spent time with a hostess instead of that little girl who's at home, waiting for you. Even if I dislike you, Suoh, I must commend the care you give to that child."

Mikoto strongly suspected that Reisi was a bit drunk.

When sober, the bastard never paid him a compliment.

"What's so special about today?" Mikoto questioned, growing impatient about whatever the hell Reisi was implying-if he was implying anything at all.

The black haired man frowned as he paused before sipping his martini.

"You really don't know?" he asked incredulously.

"Don't know what? You're getting on my nerves now, Munakata," Mikoto said. Irritation was clear in his tone of voice despite the slow, uncaring manner he continued to speak with.

"Isn't today August 13th...your birthday?"

Mikoto lowered his glass.

Forgetting his own birthday way one thing.

But there was something else that bugged him more: "Munakata, why do you know my birthday? Don't you claim to not be a stalker?"

Reisi laughed quietly as he replied in a bit of a smug manner, "I do take note of the basic information of persons I consider to be a threat,"

"Ah...I see. I'm a threat to you. The great Blue King is afraid of me."

Reisi narrowed his eyes, "Don't be a fool, Suoh. The only thing that concerns me about you is the state of your Sword of Damocles and your bad table manners,"

Mikoto snorted. What an annoying man Reisi Munakata was.

"I don't want to hear that from a guy who sparkles everywhere he goes."

Reisi's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I...sparkle?" he repeated.

"Like a fairy," Mikoto affirmed.

"I may glitter with glory but I never sparkle like a fairy," Reisi denied.

He was growing agitated once more.

"Of course you sparkle," Mikoto snapped in annoyance.

"Ah, King!" came a new voice now above the sounds of the chattering patrons.

Mikoto and Reisi looked up to see Tatara approaching them. He had to stop and bend with his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath.

He might have been looking for Mikoto all over his place.

Once more relaxed, he straightened and headed to the duo's table.

"Ah, King and Munakata-san of the Blue Clan! What an unlikely combination!"

"We run into each other a lot more than necessary," Reisi muttered.

"Really? King, do you plan dates with Munakata-san behind our backs? Isn't that like consorting with the enemy?"

That earned him a whack on the head from Mikoto.

"Shut up," he growled.

"Ouch! Sorry, sorry," Tatara apologized, smiling all the while. He suddenly turned his attention to Reisi.

With a look of absolute awe, he remarked, "Edward Cullen!"

Reisi froze. "What?"

"Edward Cullen! The pretty vampire boy from Twilight! He sparkles in the sun!"

Reisi's hand tightened around the glass and refrained from releasing a string of curses. So what if he shined a bit?!

That was no reason to compare him to that...that fictional character! It was like an insult to his masculinity to be compared to that...that _thing_!

**(A/N: No offense if you are a Twilight fan. I'm just going with the idea that many people, especially guys, hate Twilight and have a really low opinion of Edward Cullen)**

"You should watch more Japanese movies," Reisi muttered.

"Of course, of course. But Sudako movies terrify me too much!"

Before Reisi could point out that there were other will-done Japanese movies besides horror flicks, the Red King decided to speak.

"Tatara," Mikoto cut in with an air of annoyance. "what do you want?"

"Oh right! Sorry!" he apologized once more, and then on a more scolding tone he berated him, "King! You left without telling anyone!"

Mikoto took some cash out of his wallet and lay it on the table.

"So what?"

"We were planning to celebrate your birthday! Izumo stocked the bar, Kamamoto and Yata cooked, the other guys decorated..."

"Is that so? Sounds troublesome," Mikoto grumbled as he stood up and turned to go.

He didn't really think much of his birthday. It just seemed so...insignificant.

"What about Anna? She was looking forward to today! You should have seen the way she was helping everyone, decorating cakes and wearing on her cute little apron! And when the time came, _you weren't even there_!"

Mikoto went very silent.

Oh that was just was a low blow from the person who claimed to be his vassal! To mention Anna like that!

He felt as though Tatara had stabbed a knife into his back in retaliation for his lack of presence in the bar on the day all his clansmen had been looking forward to.

"You should have seen her face! It's like those times when she shows a little bit of feelings and this time she was so disappointed and she was trying to hide it up! Poor Anna-chan! You broke our princess's heart!"

Now Tatara was twisting the knife painfully.

"King is so mean! Hurtful! Hateful! Disappointing poor little Anna like that!" Tatara continued his scolding.

Mikoto turned around and in a flash, grasped Tatara by the head and squeezed hard enough to shut him up.

He glared at him but the idiot just grinned cheerfully like he always did.

"Shall we go, King?" Tatara suggested in a calm note.

Mikoto grunted and let him go.

"Fine. Munkata...try pulling that stick out of your ass," Mikoto told his rival.

Reisi was too amused to be offended. "Likewise Suoh," was his customary return.

He sipped on his drink as the duo left, thinking how interesting it was to see the fierce Red King react like that because one of his clansmen had throw a guilt trip on him regarding a small child.

The Red Clan's bonds were truly very strong.

But Reisi could see that Anna Kushina, the girl who could have been the Blue King instead of him, meant a lot to Mikoto Suoh.

She could be his strength, and she could very well be his weakness.

Two martinis later, Munakata finally realized that he was alone at the table.

How sad, he thought and ordered another drink.

But it was still better than drinking cocktails strained with red bean paste.

* * *

"Let's try this again. August 13th, 3:15 pm," Tatara's voice rang through the room. He had managed to convince Mikoto to come into the bar two minutes after himself so that they could give him a very warm welcome.

It camera's lens was directed at he door of the bar through which Mikoto entered. As soon as he entered, confetti was thrown on him and everyone yelled out, "Happy Birthday!"

Mikoto blinked in surprise as his clansmen bowed respectfully but looked so happy to him.

So joyous that it was infectious.

Then his eyes fell upon a certain little girl who hurried over to him.

So he had hurt her feelings, had he?

Surely that wasn't good.

Was she still upset?

Seemingly not by the way she had suddenly come alive with his presence.

Anna had no grudge against him for earlier. Instead, she was holding up a fork that had a bright piece of strawberry on it, coated with thick buttercream from one of the cakes.

She clearly wanted to feed it to him, so he stooped down before her (who could resist those big gray eyes that reflected the color of his red?). Some distant part of his mind noted that she didn't have on such heavy clothes today. What really drew him in was that her features had softened only slightly, but it was enough to indicate that she was excited for his birthday.

As he knew her well, he figured that she really wanted him to relax and enjoy himself today, and forget about all his concerns.

She really was such a sweet child.

This was one of the odd times Tatara was able to catch Mikoto smiling so warmly. It was a the kind that held a touch of gentleness, and the type he reserved only for Anna which he showed on very, very rare occasions.

Mikoto could not deny the happiness that crossed Anna's features as she smiled up at him as she waited eagerly for him to eat the strawberry.

Lowering his head, he took it between his lips and tasted the sweetness of the thick buttercream and the slight tanginess of the juicy strawberry.

Once he had it in his mouth and was chewing, Anna reached up and hugged him.

Mikoto was surprised at first, but without losing that look of warmth, he lifted his hand and kindly stroked the back of her head as she remained embracing him with her little arms and her little body. He could feel her soft hair brush his cheek. She embraced him tightly and this gave him the impression that she was not going to let go any time soon.

He wouldn't admit it, but he didn't mind.

"Anna is such a good child," Izumo remarked and the other guys nodded in agreement.

Kamamoto came up with two more cakes and Yata waited excitedly to personally wish his king a happy birthday.

Oh, what a wonderful day this would be!

* * *

_**Currently:**_

The film ended.

"That was a great day, wasn't it, Mikoto?" Izumo remarked.

Mikoto only grunted.

He wouldn't admit it, but it had actually been. The cheerful atmosphere had been infectious. Despite his foul mood earlier, he had found himself feeling more at ease with his clansmen.

"There's hardly any filmed with him," Anna said softly, referring to Tatara.

Izumo frowned. "That is true. Aside from Basashi Panic, there aren't really any more tapes with him," Sighing wistfully, the bartender rifled through the box of the coiled tapes of their memories, "what a foolish guy. He was going to wind up dead and yet he chose to preserve memories of everyone else instead of himself."

Everyone was downcast at his words, because they were true. In most of the tapes, Tatara's voice could be heard calling out the date and time and occasionally speaking to his comrades.

There were only very few instances of him actually being seen.

Mikoto suddenly spoke, "There's that one,"

Everyone glanced at him.

"That one?" Izumo repeated while Anna looked up at him from the side with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

Mikoto sighed.

"The one with Fujishima...and some the cats."

Fujishima had been startled to hear his name mentioned, but he remembered the incident with himself and those cats.

It suddenly dawned on Izumo which one Mikoto was talking about.

"Oh yes, that one," he remarked and rifled through the box.

Finally, he lifted up a tape and written across it was, '_Fujishima's Kittens_'.

* * *

**_A Few Years Ago:_**

"June 17th, 10:00 am," Tatara called out.

He was aiming the camera at a cardboard box and inside was a beautiful black cat who was lying on her side. Nursing from her was a litter of six newborn kittens.

"Kusanagi-san's head will go through the roof when he sees this!" Tatara exclaimed. Fujishima, standing nearby had a weary despondent expression on his face. He had truly become a part of Homra because he had wanted to protect all the animals out there from being misused and abused. Thus far, his powers had allowed him to do so.

But that did not mean that he could give all abandoned animals a home. That was why he sometimes negotiated with the bartender of Homra to take them in for a short time.

There were still times when he did manage to talk Izumo into it without bargaining with him.

This time around though, it was highly doubtful that Izumo Kusanagi was going to tolerate a huge litter of kittens. They hadn't even known the cat was pregnant! She just seemed to be really fat and ate a lot.

She had already been here two days and the bartender was showing signs of losing patience with its presence.

"I better do something about them before he throws me and the cats out onto the road," Fujishima muttered.

"Ah, indeed. He certainly wouldn't mind putting you all out," Tatara agreed.

"That doesn't make me feel better, Totsuka-san..."

"Don't sweat it! It will all work out!" Tatara assured him before swinging the camera around to a particular petite girl who was peeking from around the bar's counter.

"Ah, Anna! Why so shy? You are familiar with Fujishima-san, are you not?"

Anna moved so that she could reveal her full childish form. She gave a slight nod. Yes, she did know Fujishima well despite the fact that he had joined Homra not too long ago.

However, she had heard what the pair had said.

"Will Izumo throw away the kittens?" she queried with childish curiosity as she walked tentatively over to the pair of men. This was one of those very infrequent occurrences when Anna actually acted her age rather than as someone much older.

Tatara smiled kindly from behind the camera before lowering it. He gently patted her head.

"Maybe he will. Perhaps we should hide them for now before he comes by and finds out."

Anna tilted her head to the side. She looked at Fujishima who retained his normal stoic expression. He was a bit like her-he did not show a lot of emotions but he was very warm inside.

His love for animals was so huge that even the multi-storied building where Homra bar resided could not contain his affection for them.

He was a nice guy and she liked him.

He would feel sad if the kittens got tossed out and she didn't want him to feel unhappy.

The kittens would probably die if they were thrown into the cold and she didn't want that either.

Anna returned her attention to Tatara and nodded. This earned her a cheerful grin from Tatara.

"Oi...what are you doing?" came the familiar deep voice of their King.

"Ah, King! You're up rather early, aren't you?" Tatara asked happily.

Mikoto frowned as he waited patiently to be told what the trio were up to.

Fujishima was uncertain of what to say while Tatara just stood there, grinning as if nothing at all was wrong.

It was Anna who walked over to him and took his wrist between both hands, tugging him in the direction of the box with the animals.

Mikoto willingly followed her and Tatara made sure to videotape the willingness he showed in complying to the wishes of the little girl.

Tatara and Fujishima automatically parted to allow room for Mikoto to see what they were hiding. He blinked at what he saw, as if confused.

Then he stooped down to have a better look and cocked an perfectly red eyebrow at the squirming, wiggling mass of furry little bodies.

Anna touched his shoulder with a little white hand to get his attention. He turned his head toward her. With his stooping position, he was almost at level with her face.

"Mikoto can't tell," she said to him.

"Hm?"

Fujishima began to explain, drawing the King's attention to him now, "The cat had kittens last night. We just thought she was fat."

Mikoto grunted. It might have been a snort indicating that he was amused by the strange circumstances.

Anna, ever so worried for the future of the little cats, reached a small hand out to Mikoto and pressed it against his cheek, forcing him to give her his attention again.

Although her face retained her mannequin-like features, her eyes were filled with worry and determination.

"Mikoto can't tell Izumo," she said to him. There was a plea in her voice as well as a certain kind of firmness.

Mikoot frowned. He didn't really care to tell Izumo about the cats.

What him was the way he could give into any request of this small child. It was like he was wound around her little finger.

_What a laugh_, he thought sourly: he was the most dangerous man in Shizume City and he could easily be manipulated by one petite little girl.

"Don't tell me what?" Izumo asked as he stepped out from behind the door that led to the kitchen. He was now at the bar's counter.

"Izumo is home?" Anna said, clearly a bit shocked at his presence.

Izumo looked at her with mild surprise.

"Of course I am. Mikoto stayed out all night when you were asleep. We couldn't leave you here alone."

"Then...then you know about the cat?" Fujishima questioned.

"Of course I know about it. Who do you think took care of her last night when she was having her litter?"

Anna and Fujishima now turned their eyes toward Tatara who was aiming the camera at them. He still managed to laugh.

"Ah, I suppose Izumo won't do anything then!"

"What do you mean by that?" the bartender demanded suspiciously.

Anna spoke then, "Tatara said you would throw out Kosuke and the kittens,"

Izumo's mouth dropped open.

"And you believed him?!"

"Because it was Tatara who said so and Izumo doesn't like animals in the bar," Anna replied. Izumo turned to the cameraman now.

Then he reached over and snatched the camera from Tatara in order to look him straight in the face.

"You idiot! How could you make me out to be a monster to Anna?!"

Tatara chuckled uncomfortably, "I was just exaggerating and she happened to overhear us! But I really did think you would be more upset about the animals,"

"I'm not cruel to small creatures! The situation couldn't be helped!" Izumo snapped before turning to Fujishima, "but you better get them a home soon."

The animal-lover nodded.

Tatara walked over to Anna who was still standing beside Mikoto. Meanwhile, Izumo lifted the camera and aimed the lens at them.

The red haired King whacked Tatara on the other side of his head before he could reach out to Anna.

"Ouch! King! What was that for?!" the young man asked as he rubbed his aching head.

Mikoto placed a cigarette in his mouth and walked over to Izumo's side.

The bartender answered for him, "I think that's punishment for worrying Anna,"

"Ah, of course, of course. Anna is one of King's precious people after all."

Mikoto didn't say anything to that. Meanwhile, Tatara bent to Anna and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I didn't mean to upset you like that."

Anna knew he meant what he was saying and slid her own arms around him as the others watched on.

"It's alright, Tatara," she assured him.

Tatara hugged her tighter.

"Anna is such a good child!" he exclaimed as he pressed his chin on top of her head.

Fujishima smiled at the scene, as did Izumo. Even Mikoto's face had softened.

Meanwhile, the bartender kept filming the small interaction between the pair and said, "June 17th, 10:15 am,"

* * *

_**Currently**_:

The film ended on the scene of Tatara hugging Anna after Izumo called out the date and time.

"This is the only other footage we have of him," Yata commented, disappointment in his voice.

"Yes, but it does show that Tatara did care for Anna very much," Izumo said. Anna looked at him now and he smiled warmly at her.

"You were very important to Tatara, Anna. He would have wanted your happiness more than anything right now."

Anna lowered her head. She was clearly not cheered up by his words. But there needed to be some acceptance on all their parts of the death of their comrade.

"He wrote his name in our hearts," she said quietly. As the only person who had known that he would eventually die at a young age, she had understood his actions better than anyone else. "I think that he wanted us to remember him and treasure the moments we have with each other,"

Everyone suddenly cheered on in agreement.

It was true. More than anything, Tatara had wanted them to remember him. Maybe they might not be able to visually see him on a tape, but they had the memories he had he preserved for them. He left an impression on them where he would always be recalled as their cheerful friend who they dearly missed.

The one who always like a busybody, who got everyone depressed if he so much as frowned, who always knew how to bring light to a gloomy day.

Totsuka Tatara.

The warmest man on earth.

* * *

Earlier that day had given the clansmen some final closure concerning their deceased comrade. The second half had more to do with chocolate giving.

Sort of.

Why sort of?

Well, Yata was complaining to Izumo about some chocolates he (Izumo) had received.

"Burn them, Kusanagi-san!"

"I'm not doing that, Yata-chan."

"Then there's a priest up the hill we can take them and have them purified!" Yata was arguing.

Izumo rolled his eyes.

"Seri-chan makes me anko truffles every Valentine's Day, Yata-chan."

"Bad luck! She cursed them with bad luck so that we will get a ton of misfortune! She hates our clan and she wants what's bad for us! How could you accept such a _defiled_ thing from her?!"

Izumo was becoming weary with Yata's complaining. And since when did his vocabulary contain words like 'defiled'?

"Yata-chan, they're just chocolates. Nothing bad will happen,"

When Yata opened his mouth again, someone tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. He turned to see Anna standing there, holding out a small box for him.

It was the chocolates she gave out to everyone every year since she had learned to make them. The bartender smiled and glanced over at the camera on the counter of the bar. He had to admit that while he did not have the love of capturing precious moments on tape as Tatara had, the bartender did develop an interest in photography.

However, perhaps there were times when even he felt that filming certain occasions would be a good idea.

Like today.

* * *

It was undeniable that the chocolates Anna had made were delicious. She had given them out to everyone and had filled each one with a specific type of buttercream. For example, Kamamoto had gotten orange, Izumo got honey, Yata was given raspberry and Fujishima coconut.

As for Mikoto, well, he had gotten strawberry flavors.

As the day drew to a close, nearly everyone was getting ready to go out, including Izumo. Nearly all of the clansmen actually had dates for Valentine's Day.

Except for Bando.

His date tonight was going to be his mother who had promised him a home-cooked meal to help appease his sorrows of a lonely Valentine's Day (especially since _Shouhei_ had plans with a beautiful girl, while he did not!).

Chitose would be spending the day at home with his family, Yata with Emi, Eric with the new girl who had caught his interest, Izumo with some woman, Kamamoto with his childhood friend and...

"What about you, Fujishima, who are you spending the evening with?" Yata asked as he drank a mild sake that was given to him by Izumo.

"I have some puppies to care for this evening," he answered.

Bando stood up, happy now.

"It looks like I'm not the only one dateless tonight!"

"Actually-" Fujishima began but was cut off by the ranting the young man began to make.

"I'm gonna have a meal with my mum while he spends it with the dogs!"

He was rewarded with a swift whack to the back of the head by Yata.

"Don't be an ass! At least his dogs genuinely love him! Your mom's just pitying you!"

"And there's a girl who's helping me with the puppies," Fujishima added.

Bando became depressed once more.

Shouhei patted his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry about it, San-chan! There'll be a pretty girl out there for you someday!"

Anna came up to him and held out a small package of chocolates.

"Saburota is a nice man," she told him kindly.

It was her words that cheered him up and he accepted the chocolates gratefully.

As Anna walked over to sit beside Mikoto at the counter, Izumo proposed that everyone make a toast in memory of their deceased comrade.

There was a round of agreement.

Several of the guys had already been drinking. They were limiting their alcohol consumption though because their dates would not be pleased to have a drunk companion on Valentine's night.

Izumo poured drinks for several of the guys.

"I'll give Anna some weak sake," Izumo offered.

"No, you won't," Mikoto refused.

He wasn't in the frame of mind to go through another round of 'rooster head' with her. If she wanted to drink, he didn't care that she was underaged.

It was her behavior that bothered him when she did so. That was why he stopped Izumo.

Izumo turned to the bar and glimpsed through the shelves for that specific bottle of sake. Meanwhile Mikoto calmly placed an arm around Anna's shoulders and pulled her close to him. Anna was surprised at his sudden movement and glanced at him.

In the guise of what might look like he was giving her ear a sweet nuzzle, he growled softly, "If one drop of alcohol passes your lips, say _goodbye_ to your precious plushie,"

Anna froze at his words.

Mikoto calmly let her go and patted her head kindly as if he hadn't threatened her in any kind of way.

"Ah...I'll have water, Izumo," she stated, keeping in mind Mikoto's warning to her.

Izumo glanced at her from over his shoulder. "Water?" he repeated.

She nodded.

The bartender frowned. He glanced over at Mikoto who was quietly sipping on his bourbon.

He was quite sure their King might have had something to do with Anna's choice of drink. However, he decided not to kick up a fuss about it. It was King's decision that they all went with after all.

Izumo returned his attention to Anna. "I do have your favorite brand of orange juice."

She nodded once more, agreeing with his choice.

Well, maybe today _wasn't_ such a great day for drinking. The last time she had just a tablespoon of vodka, she woke up the next day, unaware of what had happened the night before and with a headache that pounded worse than when she had drunken several packs of juice box wine.

Maybe alcohol was simply not suited for her.

Mikoto also hadn't been very sympathetic when she had come downstairs. He merely glanced at her, noted that she looked like hell (and probably felt like it too), and simply advised her to drink a lot of water.

"From now on, we'll think of Tatara with happiness. Even though it hurts that he's gone, we won't grieve because that isn't what he wanted for us to do," Izumo announced.

Everyone lifted their glasses in toast of Izumo's words for it was finally time to draw a close to those give years of mourning.

Finally, they were truly able to accept Tatara's death.

* * *

"Anna, I will-"

"You will not," the young, fair haired female told her guardian.

Izumo's expression became a bit awkward.

"Look, it's just a couple of dishes. I'll do them," he said to her.

"Izumo is going to go home and get ready for his date. I will do the dishes," Anna informed him. Her voice was firm and her face remained expressionless.

However, there was a look in her eyes which had a mild rosy hue that made him feel almost hypnotized and inclined to obey her.

Really, she could be a bit..._frightening_ sometimes.

"Ah...alright, alright," he gave in after a sigh.

Earlier today, they had finally gained some closure over their comrade's demise.

Izumo's memories of Tatara were still playing in his mind, particularly with a lot of regard concerning Anna.

It really was regrettable that Tatara was unable to see how she had grown up.

Certain traits about her had not changed such as her unselfish behavior.

Izumo almost smiled as he recalled an incident that had occurred when she had first come to Homra.

_There was a basket full of peaches. The biggest one was indeed big, and the smallest one was certainly quite small._

_Izumo had told Anna to take anyone she wanted._

_The one she chose turned out to be the tiniest one. Izumo had known that she wasn't the type to be greedy but he hadn't thought that she would be so...**considerate**. He and Tatara shared a look and both smiled warmly._

_Anna really was such a good girl!_

_Tatara was about to tell her to take another one when Mikoto came into the kitchen. However, Izumo lifted up his hand, stopping his comrade._

_Tatara gave him a puzzled look, especially when he saw a strange glint come to his friend's eyes. _

"_Anna, why don't you pick out a peach for Mikoto?" Izumo suggested._

_Anna was already holding her small peach between her little hands._

_She nodded and set it aside before fishing out the largest peach for Mikoto. The king was searching around the refrigerator for something when she went up to him and tugged on his shirt. _

"_Hm? ah...thanks," he said and accepted the fruit. _

"_Anna really is such a kind girl!" Tatara exclaimed. "__But king is a meanie! Keeping that enormous peach to himself while Anna has such a little one!"_

"_Huh? What are you talking about?" Mikoto demanded upon hearing his words. Meanwhile, Anna went to retrieve her own peach. _

_Mikoto obviously didn't understand until he saw the really tiny version of the fruit she had chosen. Mikoto cocked an eyebrow at her and walked over to her._

_She was about to take a huge bite out of it, but he took it away from her hands before she could. She looked up at him and waited for him to speak._

_In reply, he dropped the huge peach between her hands and walked away with the tiny one. _

_Anna stared after him with her head tilted slight in confusion._

"_Anna is a good girl and the King is a nice guy after all," Tatara remarked. _

Indeed, Izumo had spent quite a lot of time with the younger man observing Mikoto's interaction with the little girl. The both of them had found the little instances between the the odd pair so intriguing and oftentimes cute.

Currently, the bartender glanced over at Mikoto who was sitting on the couch, consuming his strawberry buttercream chocolates. He did not pause as he ate them one after the other, nor did he speak.

This meant that he was really enjoying them.

Anna knew Mikoto would probably go to bed just now. When Mikoto spent most of the day awake, he tended to go to sleep very early.

She walked over to him.

Upon hearing her footsteps, Mikoto glanced up. "Hm?" he murmured as he chewed on a chocolate.

Anna lowered her head to his with her long white hair spilling over her shoulders. It brushed against Mikoto's arms and face as she pressed a kiss against his cheek.

Izumo paused in gathering his car keys and wallet to observe as Mikoto caught Anna by the back of her head with one hand and returned her kiss with a sweet nuzzle on her cheek. With his other hand, he grasped her around her small waist and pulled her onto his lap.

Anna willingly cuddled herself against his hard chest and endorsed in his warmth. She shifted her face so that her forehead could press against his. Upon closing her eyes, their noses rubbed.

Izumo almost went '_Bleh_'.

These two weren't even officially together and yet they looked more sickeningly romantic than anyone else who had a date tonight. The bartender almost shivered because of how lovey-dovey those two seemed to be.

Really, Mikoto had become more affectionate with Anna lately.

Like a lion who was giving tenderness to his mate.

This 'lion' had just drawn back his head and pressed his fist on top of Anna's head. Her wide gray eyes looked up at him. "Make sure you go to bed," he said to her.

She looked very tired.

"I will after I do the dishes," she promised. Then paused. "Unless Mikoto would like to do them?"

Mikoto grunted and gently ushered her from off his lap in response.

He hated washing up.

It was too bothersome for a lazy man like himself.

Anna sat beside him and observed as he reached out to pick up his glass on the table which had a very small amount of bourbon in it.

"I wanted to drink bourbon today," Anna told him.

"Is that so?"

"But Mikoto would not let me drink alcohol."

"It isn't all that great," he assured her before drinking the rest of it.

"You drink it all the time, Mikoto," she pointed out.

Mikoto sighed before sliding his golden eyes to her. "Do you really want to taste it?"

She nodded.

* * *

Izumo had gone to the back to ensure everything was in order in the kitchen and that all the dishes were in the sink. He suppressed the desire to do them himself.

When he returned to the bar, to his utter shock, he saw Mikoto grasping Anna's chin in one hand as he pressed his mouth firmly against hers.

"W-What are you doing?!" he gasped.

But the poor bartender was ignored as Mikoto's tongue gently probed the depths of Anna's. Anna already knew what it was like to have Mikoto kiss her deeply but that did not mean that she was completely used to it, nor that she did not enjoy it.

She loved the way the warm flesh of his lips moved over hers, and the way his hot tongue stroked against hers.

She could taste the chocolate she had given to him.

And something else. It reminded her of the whisky she sometimes smelled in the bar. It was definitely alcoholic.

This must be the bourbon.

Slowly, Mikoto removed his mouth from hers. His thumb gave a slow stroke over her sensitive lower lip as his eyes remained fixed on her own. He was observing the way her eyes glowed red upon him, the dull scarlet of her cheeks, and the increased pinkening of pretty mouth that was caused by the attention of his own.

It seemed like the pair was in a trance.

Only to be broken by Izumo yelling, "Mikoto, what the hell was that?!"

Mikoto turned his face toward his friend now. Lowering his hand from Anna, he responded, "She wanted to taste bourbon. So I let her,"

Izumo scowled. Mikoto, that stupid man!

_Really_?

Was letting Anna taste the bourbon like that instead of a glass a better idea?

Oh, what was the point of shouting now? He himself had encouraged Mikoto to kiss Anna more than once. Not only that, Mikoto would just ignore him. In fact, the King was doing just that as he gathered up his chocolates and calmly walked away.

Anna as well stood up and headed to the kitchen. She was blushing and her attitude had become even more demure than usual. The interesting about Anna was that she seemed to understand that the reasoning behind Mikoto's kiss was to really have her taste the bourbon, yet, she did not fuss over it. Anna simply understood that this was how Mikoto was.

Not only that, Izumo had realized that perhaps Anna did know that Mikoto had certain feelings for her, but she waited patiently for him to come to her. This was one of the many ways in which she truly was an unselfish, mature person.

Mikoto was another case by himself.

"That guy, he just does whatever he wants," Izumo muttered.

Indeed, that was the sort of man Mikoto was. While he did respect Izumo's stance where he (Mikoto) would have to marry Anna if anything sexual happened between them, it did not mean that he had to listen to anything else that Izumo had to say regarding the young woman.

If Mikoto wanted to kiss her, he would kiss her.

_Where_ he wanted, _how_ he wanted as long as _she_ was alright with it.

He didn't need Izumo's prompting or permission to do so, even if he was her legal guardian.

Izumo sighed as he bid Anna farewell. The young girl had quickly recovered from the hard, brief kiss and was about to go do the dishes. He was leaving her alone with Mikoto on Valentine's night but he knew that nothing would happen between the pair. Mikoto would go to sleep and he would sleep like the dead. Anna would probably watch some television or call her friends in Seneca. She might also go to bed early for she had to work at the maid cafe in the morning.

Izumo's thoughts continued on Mikoto and Anna. The King had shown willingness to marry Anna. Although he had displayed an obligation to marry her based on the terms Izumo outlined in the event that he and Anna ended up having some sort of sexual relations, it did not mean that Mikoto was doing this because he felt that he _should_.

The bartender sighed as he put away Tatara's old camera.

"He still does whatever he wants, Tatara," Izumo said once more.

* * *

Everyone at Homra were not the only ones who had received chocolates for Valentine's Day.

Kei had gotten his fair share of them from several fangirls who had become obsessed with the slender, handsome young man who worked at the maid cafe.

There was a particular box wrapped in bright purple paper. It was not a large box. Perhaps a four inch by four inch. It was obviously filled with some yummy candy for the young man.

The person who had given these to him was Akemi.

Kei believed they were obligatory chocolates.

_Akemi blushed furiously as she handed her friend the small box. Kei accepted it with shock. Did Akemi make these for him? She had never done this before!_

"_Thanks!" he exclaimed and took them. _

_Even if he received a huge pile of gifts from other girls, this little purple box was the one he would value the most._

_He supposed that it was because she was such a close friend of his, and because she had never given any guy chocolates._

_He was her first!_

_'**First**'! Kei, in some strange way, liked the sound of that._

"_If you're done having perverted thoughts, bro, maybe you can come out and help me. It's pretty crowded back there!" JJ exclaimed._

_Kei held his box protectively to him. He scowled. "I wasn't having perverted thoughts!"_

_JJ frowned. "You looked like you were going to have a nosebleed."_

_Kei snorted, "Of course not. Where's Akemi anyway?"_

"_She's talking to some dude named Hajime about chocolates."_

_Kei went very still as he headed to the doorway._

_Sure enough, Akemi was laughing and speaking to a familiar handsome young man. Someone who Kei didn't really like._

_That guy had been the one and only boyfriend Akemi had ever had. They had barely started dating before they broke up._

_Mainly because Hajime did not know how to support Akemi or give her the understanding she required when she went through a difficult time. Hajime had been very cold to Akemi when she needed support and warmth._

_In the end, she had walked off on him and broken up._

_That had been approximately three years ago._

_So why were they talking?_

_Then Kei saw it._

_Akemi handing Hajime a large red box. It was twice as big as the one she had given to Kei!_

Kei unwrapped his chocolates.

So maybe these were obligatory chocolates to Akemi.

She probably gave everyone, he thought in annoyance.

He had thought about throwing them away but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Why should he be offended anyway?

Because she hadn't treated him differently?

Because that stupid Hajime got more and in _red_ wrapping paper too?

Sourly, Kei shoved one perfectly round chocolate into his mouth. Some distant part of his mind acknowledged that it tasted really good.

"Kei, my little brother! Why do you look so sad?! Did you not get enough chocolates?" JJ queried with a big grin.

"These are Akemi's," Kei informed him.

"Ah well, lucky you."

Kei stiffened. "What do you mean?"

JJ glanced over at him from the sink. "She likes you enough to give to you,"

Kei frowned. "She didn't give any to you?"

JJ pouted. "She gave me nothing. Except a slap when I tried to exact a kiss from her as my gift,"

Kei shot his brother an angry look. Before he could reprimand him for flirting with Akemi, he realized something.

If Akemi didn't give any to JJ, then that meant that he was probably the only one who received any.

Or maybe she just didn't like JJ.

The person in question came through the door, looking exhausted.

"What a night!" she remarked after a long sigh. Although it was cold, her thick blonde hair was matted on her forehead with sweat.

She glanced around and saw JJ doing dishes while Kei stood behind the counter. She was surprised to see him eating the box of chocolates she had made especially for him. He had been a bit cold to her throughout the day and she couldn't figure out why.

A part of her had secretly wondered if it was because he figured out how she felt about him and that this was his way of pushing her away because he didn't return her feelings.

"Do you like them?" she asked tentatively.

Kei frowned.

Since when was Akemi so...nervous in front of him? About anything.

"They're fine," he assured her.

"I see," she murmured and turned away. Well, it wasn't like expected him to say anything more. Not with that huge basket of overflowing candies, flowers and gifts behind him. She was quite sure many of those items were far more luxurious than what she had given to him.

"Hajime was here," Kei commented.

"Yeah. He got a new girlfriend and came by to apologize to me about how he behaved in the past. He hadn't really understood what it meant to be a boyfriend at the time, but now it seems he does. She gave him a huge box of candy and he was showing it to me. I'm glad for him."

Kei blinked then.

So those chocolates weren't from Akemi?!

"Er...am I the only person you gave chocolates to?" Kei asked slowly.

He saw Akemi freeze in front of him.

"M-Maybe," she replied.

Kei knew that meant 'yes' from her and in response, he grabbed her from behind and hugged her tightly. As he was taller than her, he was able to rub his cheek against her temple affectionately.

"Akemi-chan gave me homemade chocolates! I'm so happy!"

Akemi was surprised. She thought that he might have asked if they were poisoned.

She was about to give him a sharp response and shove him away but it felt nice to be hugged by him.

"I made some for Anna too," Akemi informed him.

Kei's body went very still.

She gasped when his hold tightened on her almost painfully.

"For Anna? You made for Anna as well?" he repeated dangerously.

Akemi struggled against him. "Of course I did! She's my friend as well! Now let me go! Why are you doing this to me?!"

Kei's hold loosened.

Indeed, why had he become angry, almost _jealous_ of Anna? They were friends after all.

Akemi turned around in his arms and looked up at him, scowling fiercely. "I'm giving them to her tomorrow when she comes in for her shift. Look, if you don't like my chocolates, just say so," she said and shoved him away, "you don't need to act like you're pleased with them and then get all sadistic with me."

Her expression became sad as she turned away, "Besides, you have a lot of better ones to choose from, don't you?"

Kei blinked.

He had hurt her feelings, had he?

Of course he had!

Kei lifted his hand and ruffled the top of her hair.

"None of them come any close to being like Akemi's," Kei told her kindly.

Akemi was surprised at his words and glanced up at him. He beamed one of his beautiful, genuinely warm smiles at her. "I chose yours first because they came from you,"

She returned his smile then and Kei was momentarily enthralled by the way her pretty blue eyes lit up and the way a stray yellow curl of hair fell to the side of her head. Almost tenderly, he used his hand to gently brush it aside.

JJ watched the pair from over his shoulder.

And a slow smile crossed his features.

* * *

_**A/N: You would notice that Mikoto and Reisi's interaction is a bit similar to when Radio Drama 'Sharing Table'. I think that this would have been the best way for them to end up interacting on his birthday. **_

_**-As I said before, no offense if you're Twilight fan. I actually enjoy all the internet jokes about Twilight than the movies themselves. But if you really love it and you're a big fan, I see nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their own tastes. I got the idea of Reisi being likened to Edward Cullen for sparkling because that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the chapter of 'K Memory of Red' when he appeared in the bookstore with Anna and Mikoto. **_

_**-For the Seri/Izumo bit in this chapter, if you are not a fan of that pairing, you can picture them as simply being friends and the chocolates she made for him were simply customary chocolates she gave to him. If you are a fan of them, you can picture them really being together and the date Izumo had was with her.**_

_***The last bit on Akemi and Kei is especially for everyone who really like them! I really appreciate all the support you gave to my OCs :)**_

_****That scene where Anna was telling Mikoto not tell Izumo was inspired by a scene from novel 'The Wedding' by Julie Garwood. **_

_*******__**Thank you also to horizonpeace from tumblr who happened to post a link to Growing Pains on her tumblr. Thank you so much! :)**_

_**Thanks for reading. Thank you also, to all of you who follow, favorite and review this story. **_

_**For those who reviewed:**_

**WitchyCloudPine: It really does hurt a lot. I really wish Tatara hadn't died. He really was one of the best characters in the anime. Thanks for your kind words about the protectiveness of the clan around Anna :)**

**Indochine: I always appreciate it when you tell me that the chapter is nice. It makes me really happy :) Yes, you are quite right about the innocence she has up to a certain point because she knows what she wants and what she wants is Mikoto ;) I like the idea that Yata always misinterprets things. He seems like the type, especially during that episode in K when he got angry with Kamamoto and they damaged Izumo's counter :) I miss Tatara too :/ He was really was such a decent character. I still don't get why they keep saying, 'This is a story of happiness'! That makes no sense to me! Unless they're saying that in a kind of 'bittersweet' way. Even so, I was looking forward to a story of happiness! Just like I looked forward to a happy ending in the anime! And you know what we got? Tragedy! *sob* Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter and you take care as well :)**

**Keikoku Yuki: I'm glad you paid attention to that little detail :) One of the possible reasons for it could have been because the presence of her clansmen had made it difficult for her to sense him. But that's what Anna has assumed ;) **

**LadyCassie: I'm pleased you enjoyed the chapter! I love BroCon as well :) So awesome. K and Brother's Conflict are two different genres so I can't really compare them. I think that for a reverse harem that has a different character style and coloring from other animes of the same genre, it's really well done and one of the best :)**

**Wonderland Reminiscence: I'm happy you really enjoyed the chapter! I remembered that you mentioned how much you loved Tsubaki ;) I haven't played the game for Heart no Kuni no Alice, but I did check out the reviews. I read some of the manga you mentioned, but I preferred some of the other spin offs like the one that focused on Elliot. There's also another one with a guy called Gray that I see some manga sites update. I think I did see on mangafox that there was a one titled 'Joker no Kuni no Alice'. There was only one chapter though because the others haven't been translated yet :( It is a wonder as to what Munakata would be like. Probably professional, mature and really strict but a really nice guy underneath :) **

**Guest: Yes, BroCon! I'm in love with it right now! When I saw the preview for it, I also thought it would be really unimpressive with a lame storyline. However, it's really, really interesting and I always look forward to the next episode :) Azusa is a real sweetheart. I like him very much. My favorite in the anime so far is Natsume. Based on the summary of the novels I read online, I also really like Kaname. Also, I have to agree with you concerning Fuuto. I really dislike that brat! **

**friedchicken: Lol yes, Misaki is a bit stupid :) I miss Tatara too :(**

**LindyLinn: I put in a lot of flashbacks in this chapter, I hope you liked them :) I also hope you enjoyed the little bit at the end of the chapter with her and Kei. I put it in especially for everyone who really like her and Kei :)**

**Smileandsleep: Thank you so much. I really appreciate your kind words. Tatara really was a wonderful character, and it truly is a shame that he had to die like that :(**

**AngelGirl0200: Yes, his death is really sad :( It's actually Mikoto's birthday, but I hope you enjoyed it :) Aw, thank you so much for your nice words! I really appreciate them!**

**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: They had a 'date' only in Yata's mind :) Lol! Brother's Conflict is actually the only anime I currently really look forward to :) I also really like the triplets, Natsume is my favorite :) I love that man 3**

**Arius the Heretic: I know, why must they kill off such a wonderful guy? Just to make me cry? After I saw the last chapter in the manga, I got depressed, just like how I got after episode 13 of the anime :(**

**Mikoto's wife: He really was such a great character :'(**

**creativeactive: Happy Independence Day! In time, you'll see some stuff build up between them :')**

**Yanniesama: It's great to hear from you! And don't worry, I know how it is with school and having a heavy load of schoolwork. I hope you are able to post your story :) I'm also happy that you liked all those moments between Mikoto and Anna, and Akemi and Kei, as well as the flowers :) If you like, you can think of Seri and Izumo being together in this chapter. I do plan to write a separate chapter, probably a one-shot or a short multi-chaptered fic based on their relationship but I would have to do that after I finish this story. Thanks for the well wishes, and good luck to you as well! God bless :)**

**princessforeveralone: I hope you enjoyed this chapter with the bit on Mikoto's birthday!**

**_Thanks again and God bless :)_  
**


	25. To The Zoo!

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: There's a scene in here from chapter 12 of K Memory of Red. It is based on the translation done by Aqua Scans. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 25: To The Zoo!**_

_Mikoto frowned at eight year old Anna who was clutching the edge of Tatara's white shirt that stuck out of his pants. She was looking at him with wide, dark eyes. Though she did not show it, he could tell that she was a bit nervous. _

_He had been half sleeping on the couch in the bar when she and Tatara had approached him. Upon her soft voicing of his name, he had opened his eyes. _

_Patiently, he watched the child, waiting for her to speak._

_Beside her, Tatara was grinning from ear to ear while Yata and skinny Kamamoto stood on either side of the vassal on this warm Summer's day. _

_No doubt they wanted to go somewhere and were trying to wheel him in. Mikoto almost clicked his tongue in irritation. Anna suddenly seemed shy and wandered behind Tatara, watching Mikoto from behind him. _

_Mikoto hadn't seen her act like this since the first time he had met her nearly a year ago. _

_And it annoyed him. _

"_Anna wants to ask you something," Tatara explained. _

_Anna blinked at him while peeking behind the slender young man. _

_Mikoto sighed. "Anna, come here," he ordered._

_She hesitated and released her comrade. _

_She walked to stand in front of Mikoto. _

_"Don't hide from me," he told her. It sounded harsh to some, but not to Anna for she simply understood that he did not like it when she acted like she should be afraid for some reason. _

_She nodded. _

"_What do you want to ask me?" he asked her carefully. Maybe he was trying to get his voice to be gentle, but it still came out sounding a bit rough. Anna didn't seem to mind. _

_She lowered her eyes and answered shyly, "Will Mikoto come to the zoo with us?"_

"_Aren't you afraid they might keep you?" he questioned with an almost genuinely surprised look on his face. _

"_King, that's not nice to say to Anna!"_

"_He's looking at us, Totsuka-san...I think he's asking **us** if the zoo would keep us," Kamamoto pointed out. _

_Tatara looked at their King and grinned. "They may keep Yata-"_

"_Hey!" Yata snapped. _

"_But not me. Or Anna. Perhaps they might keep you in the lion cage," Tatara continued, speaking to the King. _

_Mikoto snorted at his words thinking that they might keep him as well and have him train all the animals. _

"_Lion cage?" Anna questioned in awe at Tatara._

_He nodded. "Have you ever seen a real one?"_

_She shook her head. Then, she and Tatara looked at the King again. Mikoto didn't particular care for any of the pairs of eyes upon him...save for a particularly large grey set._

"_Do you really want to go?" Mikoto asked her._

_She nodded._

_The King released a sigh._

_How could he refuse her anything?_

* * *

_And that was how Mikoto ended up in the zoo with Izumo, Tatara, Kamamoto, Yata and Anna. Anna, of course, clung to the black sleeve of his jacket as they walked. He had become well acquainted with how to read her feelings over the last year and he understood that she was happy to be able to go to the zoo...as well as for him to be at her side as they went. _

_That was the only reason why he had even bothered to come. _

_They stopped outside of the lion cage. _

_It was really a part of the building that had been sectioned off and a glass screen placed in front of it to allow visitors to see the animals. The lions in the cage were asleep. Although they were still a bit young, they were already large, beautiful beasts with healthy golden manes._

_Yet, they looked like the laziest, sleepiest of all the animals they had encountered that day._

"_Who do they remind you of, Anna?" Tatara asked as he stooped beside her. Anna looked up at Mikoto who gave her a lopsided frown in reply. _

_Tatara laughed. Anna gazed at the animals again, then softly, she said, "I feel sorry for them,"_

"_Huh?" Tatara said. Both he and the king had their eyes on her. _

_Her own remained on the two beautiful creatures in the cage. _

"_They should be wandering around, and free, not in captivity," she explained with a rare air of maturity about her. _

_None of the men with her said anything for a long moment because they were thinking about what she said and how it related to the King. They both knew that Mikoto's power was pushing at him and caging him in from all that he could be. He was a King with several clansmen, but even as a King, he had to work hard to control his own power otherwise he would become a slave to it. _

_Tatara lightly stroked the top of Anna's white head. He ought to at least give Anna some comfort regarding the lions who were kept in the zoo. _

_He pointed to a nearby sign with some information regarding the lions. _

"_It seems that some of these lions had been forced out their prides after they had grown to become threats to current leader of their groups. Most of the time when they're forced out, it seems that they might eventually form their own prides. Unfortunately, some don't and it's very difficult to hunt and feed solo because these lions have to compete with a lot of other lions for food. They may starve in the wilderness. When a species of this kind becomes endangered some lions are adopted by some institutes because they cannot live on their own alone. There's a habitat that's been created for these lions and they will be taken to it soon. They'll have a new home with other members of their kind."_

_Those words did mean a lot to Anna. She was glad that the lions would be safe. _

_A short time later, Izumo and Tatara wandered off to watch some peacocks that Anna did not seem interested in. After all, they were known for their brilliant plumage but she would not be able to see it due to her color blindness. Instead, Kamamoto and Yata took her to get some ice-cream._

"_Get her chocolate," Kamamoto told Yata. _

"_No, she'll like cotton candy better!"_

"_Yata-san, I think chocolate would be better.__"_

"_Cotton candy!" Yata insisted and shoved his foot into Kamamoto's currently flat backside. _

_In the end, she wound up with a cone that had one scoop of chocolate, and the another with a vibrant array of blue, white and pink. _

"_Where would you like to go now, Anna?" Kamamoto asked as he held her hand. _

"_Mikoto," she responded. She was tired now and she just wanted to be with her king for a little while. _

_The king was sitting on a bench somewhere to the back. _

_All the patrons of the zoo kept away from him for he had such a menacing atmosphere about him. Mikoto really didn't like coming out too often but he suspected that he had been dragged out today because he had been locked up inside for an exceptionally long period of time. The others had become worried about him and tried to get him to come out and see the sun for a bit. _

_Mikoto looked up when he saw the trio approach him. _

_Skinny Kamamoto was holding a triple serving of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. He was watching it with desperate unease because his appetite was normally significantly reduced during the Summer. Yata had cotton candy and peanut. He must have forced Kamamoto to take more than his fair share in hopes of fattening him up again._

_After all, the '**kyaa**' '**kyaa**' cries of the females all around them that came upon their sight of the yellow haired young man just ticked the skateboarder off. _

_Anna had chocolate and cotton candy. Her lips were amusingly blue._

"_We're going to see the otters again. Be good for Mikoto-san," Kamamoto told her and hurried off with Yata while Anna climbed onto the bench beside Mikoto. _

_Mikoto reclined against the seat and glanced at the little girl. She licked the ice cream again and he noticed that her lips thinned out. _

"_Don't you like it?" he questioned._

_She shook her head. _

"_Then why did you get it?"_

"_They didn't listen," she responded and he realized that those two just got what they thought Anna might like, without asking her what she really wanted. Even if she did try to tell them, they were probably too caught up in arguing to hear what the soft spoken child had to say. _

_Well, Mikoto wasn't surprised by that. _

"_I wanted cherry," she added with a slightly disappointed look in her eyes. _

_That made sense. The other two idiots obviously didn't realize that Anna would want a color she could actually see. Anna was also an appreciative child who never wasted anything that was given to her, especially by her clansmen. She would therefore eat her ice cream cone even if she hated it. _

_Sighing, he took the ice cream from her. "Don't force yourself," he told her gruffly and patted her hair gently. _

_He proceeded to eat her ice cream for her. _

_The others joined them a short period of time later. _

_Tatara was quick to notice Anna's blue lips and Mikoto's demolishing of the ice cream. He came to the obvious conclusion that it was Anna's ice cream he was eating._

"_King, why are you eating Anna's ice cream? That's like an indirect kiss!" he accused._

_In return, Mikoto glowered at him and smashed his fist into his head. _

_Tatara was holding his head in pain while still retaining a smile. _

"_Stop saying lewd things," Mikoto admonished him. Besides, it was a bit normal for the clansmen to drink from the same bottle and eat from the same plate._

_That usually happened when they went out and they were low on cash and ended up having to split everything. _

_Tatara only laughed. He proceeded to take Anna to wash her hands from the stickiness of the ice cream that had melted onto her fingers. They moved to check out some flamingos and because she was too short, Mikoto lifted her under her arms and propped her against the protective barrier that blocked them from the strange pink birds. _

_She was awed by the sight, which showed from the slight widening of her eyes. In her black and white world, all she could really make out was several pale pink hues moving slowly. Perhaps it was their movement that made Anna sleepy, or maybe it was being so close to Mikoto whose warmth lulled her._

_Whatever the reason, she started to doze like a baby while leaning onto the barrier. Mikoto noticed and immediately drew her back from it, instinctively lifting her against him and holding her safely and securely against him to ensure her utmost comfort._

* * *

Spring was coming to end and the summer would be upon them soon. With the weather seemingly perfect as it was neither too hot nor too cold, Yata had suggested they all go to the zoo. It was a boring Saturday and Izumo had decided that this would be a fine idea.

As he prepared a lunch basket, he called Maria and Chitose and informed them of their outing. Not all of the clansmen could come along but quite a few did try to make it.

Anna wanted to go because she loved being with her clansmen.

Mikoto had been more reluctant though. He thought it was more interesting to sleep all day long instead of going to the zoo and goggling at a bunch of wild animals.

If he wanted to observe such creatures, all he had to do was watch his clansmen.

They were a group of jungle beasts anyway.

Except for maybe Eric and Yata.

They were dogs by their own rights anyway (Golden Retriever and Chihuahua though Yata might claim to be a crow).

Izumo had been the one to convince the king.

_The room was quiet and dark despite the sun shining brightly outside. A large body lay facedown on the bed with a white blanket pulled over it almost completely. Only a little peek of red appeared at the top. _

"_Mikoto, we're going to the zoo. Don't you want to come?" _

_Mikoto grunted. That meant 'no'._

_Perhaps it would have been better to have Anna come and try to convince him. Unfortunately, she was downstairs with Tamotsu, quite enthralled by the adorable baby. _

"_Why not?"_

"_Boring."_

"_Come on, it's not boring! Even Anna is coming!"_

"_So what?"_

_Izumo let out a heavy sigh. "Are you really this hard headed, Mikoto? Don't you recall how innocent Anna is when it comes to men? The only male she is acutely aware of is you. If another approaches her, she never knows their intentions. What if someone tricks her?"_

"_Aren't you going to keep her safe?" Mikoto retorted._

_Izumo took in a deep breath. _

_Oh, Mikoto was being **extra-tough** today. There was a very subtle challenge in Mikoto's words: what he had been saying was,** 'Don't you think you're good enough to protect her?'**_

_Jealousy was not working on the redhead. Izumo had to try yet another avenue. _

"_Of course we'll keep her safe. I suppose I'll go down and tell those big grey eyes how you've decided to spend the day sleeping in bed instead of with her. She already had to work yesterday and saw only very little of you. Don't worry, I will convey it all to her and I'll even report her **disappointment** back to you."_

_Izumo, that **asshole**. _

_That damned bartender had his own way of throwing a guilt trip on the King. While Tatara may outright call him a 'meanie', Izumo would drag it all out with agonizing words that made Mikoto seem like even more of a villain than necessary. _

_Mikoto threw back the blankets. _

"_Fine," he growled and grabbed up his cigarettes._

* * *

And that was how Anna and Mikoto ended up sitting on a picnic blanket together, underneath a tall shady tree that sat upon a hillock that overlooked most of the zoo.

At the bottom was a cobbled path to walk around through in order to eye the animals. There was also a bench there as well where two women with their own little children sat. The women were gossiping more than necessary and this brought up memories of when Anna was a little girl and she was out with Mikoto.

"_Is he some sort of lolicon?" one middle aged woman whispered to her friend. _

"_I think he might be a pedophile!" her friend replied._

"_Someone ought to call the police on that yakuza!"_

_The pair were obviously referring to Mikoto and Anna who were sitting on a bench, minding their own business and eating ice-cream. _

_Mikoto's was melting at a fast rate. _

"_Mikoto, they're saying bad things, aren't they?" Anna remarked innocently, but loud enough for the women to hear and understand that they had been overheard._

_Mikoto's response was to shrug at the eight year old and tried to finish up his frozen desert that was fast becoming a liquified mess._

_The women froze in shock. _

"_We were just commenting on what a cute sister you are!" one of the women lied._

_Anna fixed her with a blank look while Mikoto ignored her._

_The women felt uncomfortable and hurried away, thinking that both the scary man and the pretty little girl were just too weird._

* * *

Even after many years, people still passed judgement on them.

Mikoto might still look like he was in his early twenties, and Anna might look like she was in her late teens (which she really was), but it did not matter to the people who passed by the pair who were sitting under a tree in the shade.

The baby in Anna's arms did not even deter their tasteless remarks.

In fact, it only fueled on their comments.

"What a pretty girl! Such a pity for her to be tied to that man and used as a baby-making machine!" someone said sympathetically as they passed by.

Another remarked, "What a scary guy! That poor girl, having to manage that baby with him!"

"She's so young too!"

"Her life has been wasted!"

Anna was sitting under the tree on a picnic blanket. On her lap was Tamotsu. He was now a fat, funny, happy little five month old baby. He had rosy cheeks and sharp eyes like his father's. His black hair and cute mouth were Maria's. No one was really sure where he got that nose and ears from but they assumed it might have been from Maria's father-Tamotsu's maternal grandfather.

Tamotsu bounced on her lap, disregarding the awful things people were saying. Mikoto was lying down in front of her with her knees brushing the side of his stomach which had been exposed by his t-shirt being drawn up slightly.

Mikoto's powerful arms were behind his head and there was an unlit cigarette between his lips.

Anna had willingly taken Tamotsu for a little while because she believed that Maria and Chitose would probably like a little break from taking care of the baby.

Oh, they loved their son to bits, but like most couples they needed to spend quality time together. They were also not the type of people to palm off their child on others. They accepted Anna's help this once because it seemed that Anna genuinely wanted to spend time with him. Tamotsu had also retained the liking he had taken toward her from since the day he had been born.

Anna didn't really know how to play with a baby. However, she did like the feel of Tamotsu's small body. He was quite cuddly. The way he sometimes laughed and gurgled tugged at her heart. Even when he drooled, she found him to be very cute.

She never really made funny faces at him, but she sometimes spoke softly to him and sang to him. He loved when she sang to him, just as she was doing now.

Mikoto's eyes were closed but he took in the song Anna softly sang to the child who had started to become a bit fussy.

_'Hush little baby, don't say a word,_

_Papa's going to buy you a mocking bird. _

_And if that mockingbird won't sing,_

_Papa's going to buy you a diamond ring._

_And that diamond ring turns to brass,_

_Papa's going to buy you a looking glass._

_And if that looking glass gets broke,_

_Papa's going to buy you a billy goat._

_And if that billy goat don't pull,_

_Papa's going to buy you a cart and bull...'_

Anna's song was cut off when Mikoto spoke:

"What a weird song," he muttered. He had almost fallen asleep with her soothing singing voice.

Until he heard that '_billy goat_' part.

He did know this lullaby and he always thought that this part with the goat was just so...out of place. The whole beat of the poem just changed from there.

But then again, most children's lullabies didn't make any sense.

Some scholars even thought that there was hidden meanings behind them.

Perhaps there were.

"It's a nursery rhyme. My mother used sing it to me," Anna confided quietly.

"I see," Mikoto murmured. He wondered if she still missed her parents and if she still thought about them a lot. She had Homra now. She had everyone and they cared for a lot.

She was now their family.

But he supposed that there were times when Anna would have wished that she could have spoken to her mother about certain topics. In fact, there were quite a lot of things Anna would have needed her mother for, especially in her teenage years.

Instead, the girl had to make do with a bunch of tough, wild guys.

Thank goodness for Yuki Natsume. That woman had treated Anna like her own daughter when the strain had been sent to stay with her in Seneca. She had understood the young girl and given her advice.

Heck, Yuki Natsume had even kept certain things secret between herself and Anna from the Red Clan. Things like Anna's friends knowing about her power and that Anna had one male friend-Kei Junichi.

Despite this, the older woman had been someone Anna needed to have in her life and even to this day, she could turn to her for help and counseling.

This was a trust the white haired female rarely displayed to just anyone. Yet, when Anna had been contemplating leaving the bar, it was Natsume she had wanted to confide in. This just showed that Anna was willing to rely on the older woman which was indeed a good thing for Anna did need the influence of an older female in her life.

Tamotsu began to wiggle in her arms. Anna looked down at him and saw that he was looking at Mikoto and waving his little arms.

Perhaps he wanted to go by the King?

Mikoto had not held the little boy since he was born. Babies were so little and fragile that they made even him, the great Red King, nervous.

Oh, he would never admit his anxiety.

He would simply pass it off as feelings of '_unsettlement_'.

Maybe a tilt in his sense of _peace_.

Either way, he wasn't comfortable around little brats. Anna had been the only exception and he still hadn't been keen on her when he had first met her. Only after they had 'connected' through her marbles had he come to some sort of unconscious understanding with her.

When it came to roughness, the only reason why he was like that with her such as when he lifted her by the back of her dress, or flicked her on her forehead was really because he was aware of resilient she truly was.

Well, that was mainly because of his knowledge of Mizuchi's experiments on her. This had made him realize that she wasn't as breakable as he had thought.

Anna carefully set the baby onto Mikoto's stomach.

"Hm?"

Mikoto turned his chin downward in order to see what was this squirming, wiggling little weight on him. His golden eyes met dark brown ones and a happy, gooey grin greeted him.

Chubby, dimpled cheeks and tiny waving arms came into his line of sight.

Mikoto cocked an eyebrow at 'it'.

Yes, he referred to Tamotsu as an '_it_'.

This was how Mikoto's mind worked things out with regard to the baby:

Suoh Mikoto had never really interacted with ones so little.

As such, his mind accepted that it was a little human but because babies were something so foreign, so _alien_ to him, he had not properly conceptualized that the child had a gender.

Thus, Tamotsu was still an 'it' in his mind.

_It_ was strange.

_It_ laughed for no reason.

_It_ slumped and grasped hold of his t-shirt in a fist and began to bite it.

No way could bits of cotton be good for _it_.

"Oi, stop that," Mikoto chided it.

_It_ immediately obeyed and dropped the t-shirt.

Anna's eyebrows lifted slightly. Tamotsu was..._obeying_ Mikoto.

Somehow he had understood that he must listen to Mikoto.

How interesting!

The baby instead gazed at Mikoto and then began to bounce slightly as if very happy.

The rocking motion was starting to irritate Mikoto and he caught Tamotsu by the back of his shirt. He was quite that sure he was not hurting the child.

However, people who passed by thought that the red haired _yakuza_ was being awful to the cute little baby!

Mikoto kept his eyes on the baby who was watching him with awe.

Very much in a similar fashion as Anna had when she had first met him.

_Anna occasionally did strange things with him. Perhaps it was for her own amusement or fascination. _

_Or maybe she was trying to appeal to supposed 'inner child' in everyone._

_These were all assumptions one could make._

_Especially when Anna had deliberately chosen a plate shaped like a cat for his food to be served on. Those black eyes stared up at him from the top of the tableware._

_Even the utensils were rather clunky and child-like._

_Well, Mikoto was never one to complain-at least not to Anna because he didn't want to hurt her feelings._

_Even if she had chosen a grown-up plate for herself._

_That brat._

_Mikoto released a quiet breath. He wouldn't bother her about this. The food on the plate interested him more anyway. Besides, she made sure to order his meat rare for him. _

_At least she knew what he liked. _

_After a brief discussion on Anna's happiness at being in Homra, she remarked with regard to the child who had clung to his leg, "I wonder if that child came closer because Mikoto's red is so pretty,"_

"_Only you can see that," Mikoto reminded her as he focused his attention on his meat. _

"_I'm sure other children can see it too."_

"_Is that so?"_

"_Yes..."_

Perhaps Anna had been correct.

Adults became frightened at the mere presence of Mikoto. Yet, there were times when certain children either gazed after him in awe or seemed to become cheerful when he was around.

It seemed that Tamotsu might be one such child.

Mikoto dropped the child calmly high on top of him. The little boy's bottom was sitting on his chest and he leaned his tiny body forward so that he could press his small hands on Mikoto's chin. He was able to prop himself up in this way.

It seemed as though Tamotsu was a rather intelligent baby for him to think to do this.

He made a soft noise that seemed to come up from the back of his throat. It sounded as he if pleased with his little spot atop the King.

_It_ (the baby) was very light. Yet, _it_ was warm.

_It_ was wearing on a red t-shirt and black long pants. His mother had given him a pair of red and white shoes to put on his little feet and he even had a matching cap.

Tamotsu didn't care for the cap for he had somehow managed to push it off his head and it was now lying idly beside Anna.

Mikoto at least remembered that _it_ was a boy.

"You look like a girl," Mikoto said to the child.

Anna's mouth thinned into a line. It seemed that she disapproved of him likening the child to the gender that it was not.

The baby's cheeks were very red, like those of women who applied to much blush with their make up. His mouth was also pinkish.

Like girls who wore on pale colored lipstick.

Shouldn't Mikoto question if he was a girl or not?

The baby didn't seem to care for he merely gave a soft laugh upon hearing Mikoto's words. His tiny fingers pressed down harder on Mikoto's chin.

Hm...

Mikoto's mind was now processing and finally conceptualizing and accepting that Tamotsu was not an 'it' but a 'he' who had prettiness of a 'she' but since 'it' was really a 'boy', Mikoto had to refer to 'it' as a 'he'.

_He_ looked interesting when he laughed. His quiet giggles were almost..._soothing_ to Mikoto's ears.

Mikoto lifted his hand and poked his finger curiously at one chubby cheek.

It was soft.

Very soft actually.

A lot more than he had expected for Mikoto's finger pressed quite deeply into the flesh of the baby's face.

Tamotsu paused in his smiling at Mikoto's touch. However, once the king removed his finger, he let out another laugh. This time it was louder.

The baby's joy was infectious for even the ferocious red king's face softened at those little chortles. Mikoto snorted and touched his finger to the baby's other cheek.

Once more, the baby laughed.

And quite a bit louder too.

So loud that he almost toppled over but Mikoto pressed a supporting hand to the baby's back.

The gears in Mikoto's brain began working again.

There was a word one could use to describe the baby.

What was it again?

A word often associated with little children and animals?

It was...?

Cute.

That was it!

Cute!

Tamotsu was _cute_!

But Mikoto would never say such a word. He would rather choke on his spit than call someone or something 'cute'.

He could almost hear Tatara's voice echo in his mind and go, '_Kawaii_!"

But Mikoto would still never say it.

He did think it though, and perhaps that was enough.

These strange feelings stirred up by the child had dropped some of the mental guards Mikoto had and Anna was able to hear the word 'cute' echo from him.

She smiled softly as she looked at Mikoto's interaction with the baby with tenderness in her eyes.

This was a rare sight and she was glad she was able to see it for herself. She could feel how at ease he had become and how his curiosity about the baby had been piqued.

Like a child who had become fascinated with a new toy.

Or a big scary lion who was curious about a strange little mouse.

Tamotsu suddenly seemed to become tired of laughing. His mouth opened wide and he let out a yawn which was so huge that his movements might have made him fall backward had it not been for Mikoto's large hand which still remained on him.

He lowered his head and placed it on Mikoto's chin. Mikoto blinked at the feel of that soft fuzz of the baby's hair on him.

Huh?

Did this brat plan on sleeping on _top_ of him?

"He must be ready for his afternoon nap," Anna said and lifted the baby from his chest.

Mikoto was glad that she took him. Although he had started to warm up to the child, he was not that comfortable with him yet.

Anna cradled the sleepy boy in her arms.

Then, without warning, he started to nuzzle at her chest.

Anna blinked at his movements.

"What are you doing?" she asked the child.

Mikoto frowned deeply.

He was getting irritated with the baby.

Why?

Because the brat was trying to get Anna's breasts. While it might be logical that he was sleepy as well as hungry, Mikoto felt himself become irked.

Some distant part of his mind echoed the words, '_those tits I never got to touch_!'

Mikoto scratched the back of his head. He didn't really know why those words passed through his mind, but he certainly didn't think that Tamotsu ought to be pushing his face into Anna's breasts like that.

Even if they did look soft and pliable.

(And probably because Mikoto himself had never done so).

* * *

"Tamotsu is probably ready for his afternoon feeding," Maria reminded her husband as they made their way through the crowd and toward the area where Anna and Mikoto were sitting. The couple had a great time for an hour on their own without their son.

Still, he was their adorable baby and they missed him after the first couple of minutes. It was therefore a great relief for them to fetch their son.

They really did indulge their little boy for every week he was given a new toy or a new set of clothes, and when it wasn't them spoiling him, it was the rest of the clansmen.

As Tamotsu grew bigger, it seemed they became less wary of his size and were able to interact with him more. Since Maria did not have many relatives with whom she had a close relationship with, she was very glad that their son had the red clan.

They had even gotten a pet for Tamotsu.

It was a fat little kitten.

In fact, they had come across this particular feline thanks to Anna and Fujishima.

_Anna never forgot the fat blob of fat that claimed to be a cat who had lured her out Mikoto's window which nearly led to her early demise. She did occasionally ponder about what had become of it for it had mysteriously disappeared._

_Until Fujishima happened upon it nearly a month after Anna's incident on the tree. _

_The animal lover had brought in his pet rabbit, Fluffy once more to the bar. Today, Dewa and Chitose had come in. The bunny's life was not in danger of Kamamoto's appetite since the chubby fellow was out. _

_Fujishima heard a soft mewling. Perking up, he looked around._

_Seeing nothing, he figured it might be coming from outside. Leaving his two comrades in charge of his pet, he hurried out to see what it was. _

_Anna was sipping her drink when the door opened. _

_Everyone turned around and saw Fujishima holding a kitty in his hands._

_Anna recognized that fat blob of a kitten._

_It was the one that had been stuck on the tree. _

"_I found this outside," Fujishima stated._

_It mewled woefully. _

"_Evil," Anna said quietly and turned her attention to drink again. _

_Everyone was stunned at her words. _

"_Anna?" Izumo said her name. _

_However, she remained silent._

_Mikoto frowned as he remembered her being stuck on that tree the other day. _

"_That's the cat?" he questioned her from his seat on the couch._

_She nodded. _

"_What cat?" Izumo pressed, curious. _

"_I went to rescue it from the tree outside Mikoto's room."_

"_You mean when you were on that tree a few weeks ago? But there was no cat," Izumo pointed out._

_Anna looked him straight in the eye. _

"_He climbed down."_

_Izumo snorted as he looked at Fujishima now. It seemed the bartender had figured out what the cat had done. _

"_Ah, that's a menacing ball of fluff you have there, Kosuke. Perhaps you should take it to the shelter."_

_Fujishima looked at the kitten now. _

"_Did you trick Anna into trying to rescue you the other day?" he asked._

_The kitten simply mewled woefully, as if that was a 'no'. _

"_Liar," Anna said. " It's not a stray either, it belongs to that council woman who lives in the townhouse."_

_Fujishima frowned at the cat who was giving him huge, sad watery eyes. _

"_You played a trick on our Anna. That's unforgivable. I ought to return you to that council woman."_

_The animal hissed then in disagreement and squirmed to get out of Fujishima's arms. Not wanting to get scratched, he dropped the cat who made his way toward Anna._

_He seemed to understand that Anna was capable of comprehending him. It was not that he was a strain of any sort. He simply a cat and cats were smart animals. _

_It also seemed that he was sorry for what he had done._

_Yes, he had played a mean trick on her but he hadn't thought it would go so far. He wanted a home and he didn't want it with that council woman. _

_Apparently there was a whole litter of kittens who they were trying to get rid off and he certainly wouldn't be missed._

_When Anna explained this to her clansmen, Fujishima seemed to have become overwhelmed with pity. _

_With his stoic expression still on, he said to Anna, "He's sorry, isn't he? Will you forgive him?"_

_Anna didn't say anything. That cat seemed to be a little too cunning for his own good. _

"_I've heard of people being fooled by other people but never by animals," Izumo remarked. _

"_Ah, Kusanagi-san-"_

"_Don't even ask. All the money in the world wouldn't make me take in that animal even for a night. He put our Anna in danger just for fun. What a cruel creature."_

_Fujishima blinked. _

_That was true. _

_He frowned down at the cat._

_Maria had come in with Tamotsu and had heard everything about the cat. _

"_Perhaps we ought to take him in," Maria remarked as she went over to the animal. It turned its huge, watery gaze on her as if she was his last hope. "You just want a home, don't you?"_

_If a cat could nod, that fat one just did. _

"_Motherhood has made you soft," Izumo said to her, but not in a way that was meant to offend._

_Maria smiled. _

"_Perhaps it has. I can understand why you won't forgive him but he hadn't intended for Anna to get hurt. But I think he would be a great pet for us."_

_With a mewl of delight, the animal jumped happily into Maria's arms. _

"_Wait a minute! I don't think it's a great idea for that thing to be around my son!" Chitose snapped. In his arms was his very small baby boy who he was holding protectively against him. _

_Maria smiled ever so warmly. "Oh, it will be fine, don't worry!" _

_Then her aura suddenly became darker. Her smile became evil and she lifted a hand at the cat, showing just how much sharper her nails were than his claws. _

"_Because if he dares to try anything, I'll **shred** him."_

_The cat struggled to get away as Maria took him away while laughing merrily once more. Everyone watched as she, Chitose and Tamotsu took their new pet out the bar and to their car. _

"_I...I sort of feel sorry for him now," Izumo mumbled._

_Everyone nodded in agreement._

* * *

Despite Maria's threat to the animal, it was quite happy now. He seemed to genuinely like his new family and fit in quite well with them.

Although it seemed that Tamotsu might squash him to death whenever he got a hold of him.

"Satu is probably missing us. We ought to go home soon," Chitose suggested. 'Satu' was the name of the cat.

Maria nodded in agreement.

At the bench on the bottom of the hillock, two women were still sitting. They had baby prams with their own little ones inside.

They were looking up at the hill and whispering loudly about Anna, Mikoto and Tamotsu.

"How disgraceful! A young girl like that allowing herself to get knocked up by such a dangerous looking guy!"

"And the baby's hungry and she doesn't even have any formula!"

"Maybe she'll start breastfeeding. I bet all the men in the park will give an arm for the sight of her naked breasts!"

Chitose became irked now.

Maria glanced at him.

"I wonder if that guy beats her everyday?" one of the women continued.

"Probably, he looks so abusive!" the other agreed.

Maria knew that when it came to her husband's clansmen, Yo Chitose would change from the flirtatious, yet kind man, to a heartless demon.

"Two women at the zoo on a Saturday without their husbands!" he declared loudly beside them. The women paused in their gossiping to look up at him.

Chitose folded his arms and continued speaking, "They're here on their own with their children but where are the dads? Isn't the zoo a great place to spend quality time with family? These two women's husbands must be a bunch of deadbeats!"

People who passed looked at Chitose nervously.

But he didn't care.

No one insulted the King and the princess.

Especially a pair of gossiping hags.

"I'll have you know my husband is-"

Chitose cut off the woman who defending her husband by saying out loud, "Or maybe you just never shut up so your husbands ran off and left you,"

The women looked mortified.

Maria placed a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Chitose, that's enough," she told him quietly.

He clicked in his tongue in annoyance. He finally looked at the women. They became frightened when they saw the way he glared at them.

Then, he returned his attention to the trio on the hillock.

"Hey boss, Anna, thanks for looking after our son for us!" he called out loudly and hurried to the top.

The women's mouths dropped open in shock. It had never crossed their minds that the supposed parents of the baby were actually friends of some sort with the child's real parents and that they were doing something good like babysitting for a little while.

Maria sighed before glancing at the astounded pair of females. "I'm quite sure you understand now how badly you misjudged those two and how horrible it feels to be judged yourself by someone who does not even know you."

Maria left then while the women stared after them. Others who had stopped to watch the scene created by Chitose's loud talking decided it was time to carry out with their own business.

Who knew if the women learned their lesson?

Perhaps they had.

"Yes, he definitely needs to be fed. I want him to have his meal now or he'll wake up in a rage later on," Maria told Anna as she accepted her son from her.

Mikoto was sitting up beside Anna now.

"When he's hungry he even tries to nurse from me," Chitose remarked.

Anna looked at him blankly while Mikoto gave him a lopsided frown. "So the brat's just like you," Mikoto said.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Chitose asked.

Maria was patting her baby's back. "Yes, why do you say that, Mikoto-san?"

"He's a little per-"

Anna and Chitose simultaneously reached out and covered Mikoto's mouth with their hands in order to stop him from finishing his sentence.

If Maria heard Mikoto call her son a 'little pervert', she would loose her temper and probably try to kill Mikoto.

He might be her _husband's_ king, but he was not _her_ king.

As Mikoto was not one to run from a fight, he would take her on and disregard that this was the wife of one his clansmen.

It wouldn't be a pretty sight.

Both did have awfully destructive power.

For Tamotsu's sake, the father of the baby and the princess of the clan decided to make sure that Mikoto absolutely did not finish his sentence.

Thankfully, Maria had become distracted when Tamotsu decided to give an angry little wail.

"Come on, let's take him to the car. I'll have some privacy to feed him there," Maria told Chitose who nodded hurriedly.

He bowed to Mikoto and Anna politely before heading to the car with his family. They heard him ask Maria, "It's my turn next, isn't it?"

"That guy's a pervert too," Mikoto muttered.

He remembered that Anna had mentioned (but in nicer words) that Tamotsu would have a foul temper like his mother's riled up, and a filthy mind like his dad's.

Despite his shortcomings, Chitose was a good man. He was a good husband and he was a good father. Tamotsu would also be a wonderful person later on in life. He did have a role to fulfill as someone's protector after all.

"So he was he trying to nurse from me?" Anna questioned. Although her expression was blank, her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

Mikoto reached across and pinched her cheek.

"What else would he have been trying to do, you brat?" Mikoto demanded. Anna whimpered in pain and he released her. He paused by cupping her cheek and softly stroking his thumb against the reddened mark he had caused to her skin.

Anna watched him silently, letting him do as he pleased. Even if his pinches hurt a bit, his tenderness was so much sweeter.

He shifted his hand to her right shoulder and used his other hand to hold her left shoulder.

Mikoto gave her a gentle kiss on that mar to her face and drew back.

Anna looked up at him, but he wasn't returning her gaze.

In fact, his eyes were on somewhere lower than her face.

She followed his line of vision and it seemed that he was staring at her breasts which were properly covered by the bit of black lace that was sewn onto the bodice of her red dress.

"Mikoto?"

He didn't reply but lowered his head and pressed it on her chest.

Anna's eyes widened for she was quite surprised with his actions.

Then, his hands lowered and his arms went around her waist, holding her closer to him.

Her heart began to beat faster and she was quite sure that he could hear it.

After all, his ear was pressed right where her heart was.

Why did Mikoto do this?

Well, it seemed that little Tamotsu had become quite taken with Anna's chest. Mikoto had decided to see what was so fascinating about it in the eyes of a child (because a guy would be sexually attracted to it as opposed to a baby).

Maybe Tamotsu simply thought 'food' when he saw her breasts.

Or maybe he noted that they were soft and rather cushion-like as Mikoto seemed to be thinking.

Yes, that had to be it.

Anna's chest was like a pair of water balloons that were firm and jiggly. They were covered with soft silk and lace and were the perfect place for a man to rest his head.

And indeed, Mikoto was enjoying his new 'Anna-pillow'.

* * *

What a sight this was indeed.

Izumo was tempted to take a picture of the pair but then he might like some sort of voyeur in the eyes of the people who were passing at the foot of the hill, glancing uncomfortably at the pair who seemed to be locked into an intimate embrace.

Mikoto was leaning his head on Anna's chest. His dark red hair was stark against the exposed part of her white neck. His arms were also around her, trapping her to him.

Anna would never push Mikoto away from her, especially if he wanted a bit of affection. For that reason, her hands simply gripped his shoulders as she waited ever so patiently for his next move.

Izumo pitied her a bit.

From the way she was kneeling down, she had to be uncomfortable.

And that hard-headed guy Mikoto might have really fallen asleep and not realized Anna's state of discomfort.

Or maybe Anna was just as hard-headed as Mikoto was for putting up with his desire to just laze like a big lion around her.

Izumo flicked some of the ash from his cigarette before taking a long drag from it. He blew out some smoke and wandered over to his King and their princess.

"Mikoto, are you trying to cop a feel on Anna by pretending to be asleep?" Izumo asked.

"Shut up, Izumo," the King retorted and merely gripped Anna more tightly. She let out a soft gasp at his sudden movement but in no way let him go.

"The police may try to charge you both with indecent behavior in public you know. It's alright if you're locked up but I'm not too keen on poor Anna ending up in prison thanks to your sexual harassment."

Mikoto let out a huff. His warm breath permeated through Anna's clothing and she could feel it on her naked skin. How long ago had it been since he had touched her and kissed her? Nearly four and a half months.

It wasn't easy to pretend that she was not sexually aware of him and that nothing had happened between them.

Especially when the craving for him, for his touches and his passion just grew day by day.

That little taste of him that he had given to her on that night she had been poisoned had been enough for her to just want _more_ of him.

She didn't know how long she could hold out on, but if she finally broke she could only hope that he would forgive her.

"Anna, we're leaving soon. Is there anywhere you want to go before get ready for home?" Izumo queried.

Anna blinked up at him. Then, thinking back, she knew what she wanted to see before they left. She nodded and pressed at Mikoto's shoulders to get him her attention.

He turned his golden eyes up in order to look at her.

Gray eyes that reflected red was watching him. With an ever blank face, Anna informed him, "I want to see the lions, Mikoto,"

The King let out a heavy sigh and drew back from her.

"Fine."

Izumo smiled warmly as Anna and Mikoto stood up. Mikoto scratched his stomach lazily, the way he did when he normally woke up while Anna straightened out her clothes in a rather prim fashion.

They were like chalk and cheese yet they went so well together like ice-cream and sprinkles.

Mikoto started to walk and Anna hurried after him. She placed her hand on his elbow and together they headed toward the lion's cage.

As for Izumo, well he was now able to claim that shady spot on the top the hill for himself.

* * *

The lions in the cage were the same ones that had been brought in years ago when Anna had first been brought to the zoo by her clansmen.

When Anna had first seen them, they had been smaller. Now, they had grown up and had their own cubs.

Although they had their own habitat, there were certain times of the year when the lions were brought back into the zoo in order to earn some extra income.

This income was geared toward the taking care of the animals. Those lions alone did eat their way into several pounds of meat everyday. Caring for them was quite expensive and the zookeepers needed to ensure that there was always some kind of cash inflow to properly care for them.

Amongst the group was one particular lion who was larger than the rest.

Beside him was a lioness.

The lion let out a soft growl when she pressed her nose against his mane. His low rumbling from her presence was not out of anger but actually because he was pleased with her display of affection. He lifted his great head and shook it slightly from side to side. Perhaps a bug had come to bother him which had led to him performing this display of mild aggravtion.

His golden brown hair moved with his motions. Then he stopped and snorted before nuzzling his mate and licking her face.

Around Anna and Mikoto was a great crowd who were intrigued by all the animals.

Anna's hands were pressed against the glass pane of the window through which they were looking at the animals. Mikoto's larger body was behind hers, just barely brushing against her back.

"Mikoto," Anna voiced his name.

He glanced down at her.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" she said in response to his inquisitive look.

Mikoto grunted and lowered his head to give the side of hers a little nuzzle.

"Yes, they are," he agreed.

* * *

Kamamoto was currently still fat. He would start loosing weight soon and get to that size that seemed to appeal to most women.

Except for his childhood friend who felt that fatter Kamamoto meant much more of Kamamoto to love and hug.

And probably Anna. However, she never really recognized when he lost weight. She just saw less of his stomach and less of his red and her favorite part of the normally tubby man was his huge, beach ball of a stomach.

Either way, the point was that he was like a huge, huggable bear. Currently, he was lying down a bench, feeling tired. It seemed that although most people thought it was still a bit chilly, he was already feeling the heat of the oncoming Summer.

As such, he did not want to eat.

Yata was worried that his girlfriend might start fawning over skinny Kamamoto like most other females. Although she really wouldn't, Kamamoto's good looks during Summertime made most men insecure about their significant others.

Thus, Bando and Yata had decided to join forces so that the moment Kamamoto began to loose appetite, they would stuff him with food and _keep_ him fat!

Which is exactly what they were doing when they began shoving pizza, hotdogs, ice creams and sodas down his throat.

"Mommy, why are those scary guys force-feeding that poor man? Isn't that what farmers do to animals before they kill them?" an innocent little girl with a balloon asked.

"D-Don't ask questions about strange people!" the child's mother hissed and hurried her away.

Indeed, Dewa and Kamamoto were like two evil shadows at poor Kamamoto's sides as they forced him to eat.

They even laughed hideously.

Interestingly, the monkey cage was just opposite them. The monkeys were all observing the scene the red clansmen had created and were screeching loudly as if cheering them on.

The humans around hurried away, quite disturbed by the strange atmosphere.

Only two lingered, observing for a long moment.

It was a pale haired, beautiful girl and a tall red haired man.

"Mikoto."

"Hm?"

"Why did we come to the zoo?" Anna asked him. Her gaze remained unblinking at the trio who were a couple feet away from them. Anna had asked this because her thoughts fell along the lines of Mikoto's earlier on: if she wanted to see a bunch of beasts, why not just look at her clansmen instead of coming to a zoo? Because those guys in front of them sure weren't acting like people.

Mikoto shrugged.

"For wild animals to entertain caged animals," was his reply.

* * *

As the day drew to a close, the zoo began to empty itself of visitors. The zoo had brought in some new birds from the Caribbean that Anna had much appreciation for. These were known as Scarlet Ibis and they had such a beautiful brilliant red to them that Anna had gazed upon them for a very long time.

The final place she checked out belonged to the flamingoes. They were in a circular area that had a human-made shallow river running through it for them to walk through. Anna stood behind the barrier and observed them.

She was taken back to that time several years ago when she had stood at this very spot with Mikoto and Tatara with her. Tatara was surely gone now, but Anna was learning to live without him and remember him with only happiness in her heart.

That memory had been a beautiful one and she was glad to return to this place with Mikoto at her side.

The sun would set soon.

The horizon was shedding brilliant orange rays that added some color into her vision.

Anna felt...nostalgic.

Perhaps Mikoto felt the same way for his arms went around her, drawing her into the hard length of his body.

Her grip on the barrier loosened as she leaned against Mikoto with a quiet sigh. She was glad he was here with her and she was thankful that he had taken her into his arms and shared his comforting warmth with her.

She turned her head upward slightly in order to view his face for she sensed that he seemed to be thinking hard about something.

Indeed he was as the grim line of his mouth and the slight narrowing of his red eyebrows indicated this.

"Mikoto?" she voiced his name.

He did not speak for a long moment.

"Are you happy?" he finally asked in a quiet tone.

Anna blinked. She was confused as to why he would ask such a thing of her.

"I am," she replied slowly. "why does Mikoto want to know?"

He sighed and tightened his hold on her. He rested his chin on top of her fair head.

"Don't you miss your parents?"

Anna was stunned by his question. She hadn't expected that he would be wondering about such a thing.

In fact, no one had ever really queried her feelings regarding them for a long time.

"Sometimes I do," she admitted. "being a girl in a clan of mostly men isn't easy, especially when I needed to talk to someone about girl related things," She looked up at Mikoto now and there was a tiny smile on her face, "but Mikoto made sure there was someone to help me. You and Izumo and everyone were understanding about a lot of things. I do miss my mother and sometimes I wish for my father. But Homra is important to me. It hurts a lot more to think of losing you or anyone else in Homra. You're all my family and you've made me happy."

"I see," Mikoto murmured. He was glad about this although he did not admit it. However, her words had made his expression soften before he turned his attention to the flamingoes again.

"Mikoto?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you," she whispered softly. His response was a soft kiss at her temple.

* * *

Now that it was a bit colder with the sun starting to set, Kamamoto was indulging in a bucket of fried chicken. Flanked at his sides were the two 'angels' who had _kindly_ bought him a lot of food today.

Izumo approached them from the back. Chitose and Maria had left a while ago with their son because it was time that they took him home to rest.

"We ought to tell them that the zoo is gonna close soon," Bando remarked, referring to the King and the princess who were cuddling with each other at the flamingo area.

"They look so cute, I don't want to disturb them!" Kamamoto said.

Yata kicked him in the back.

"Mikoto-san isn't cute! He's macho and manly!"

Izumo let out a weary sigh. Coming to the zoo today had really been for the sake of getting Anna and Mikoto out together for a while.

The bartender felt that they should spend some time out together. Maybe it might hasten Mikoto's decision to finally get that girl to be his bride instead of stalling all the damned time.

"Why don't they just get married already?" Izumo heard Bando mutter.

It seemed that the bartender was not the only one thinking this.

"All things in good time, friend. All things in good time," Izumo replied to his question.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the bit of a late update. Had some health related issues, and doc said to get plenty of rest. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. It is not the one I had originally intended to post but I decided to tie up a few loose ends.**

****The part with 'those tits I did not get to feel' refers back to Chapter 19, based on what 'passionate' Mikoto had been saying to 'normal' Mikoto. **

****This chapter is for anyone who wanted to see Anna and Mikoto babysit Tamotsu (I may write a little more interaction with the three of them, but I'm not quite sure yet) and for anyone who wanted to know what became of the cat from a couple of chapters ago (Chapter 15). **

****I deliberately made this chapter have an easygoing kind of feel. It is also for anyone who wanted to see Anna and Mikoto go out on a 'date'. This was the closest thing to a date I could fit in. I hope you enjoyed it:) **

******The next chapter will start the ball rolling for the final part of the story. I have no idea as to how long it would take to complete, but I do hope you would continue reading and keep up with me to the end.**

**Thanks for reading this chapter and please let me know your thoughts on it. Also thank you all of you who follow, favorite and review this story. You all really motivate and encourage me to keep on writing. I love you all :)**

**For those who reviewed:**

_**D: You didn't know?! LOL. Anyway, I'm glad you now know and hope you enjoy it :)**_

_**AngelGirl0200: I have some plans for Anna's birthday. You'll understand in a couple of chapters ;) I'm glad you enjoyed the sparkling and Edward Cullen parts as well as the flashbacks :) I actually hadn't planned on doing any holiday themed chapters. Someone had suggested before that I do one based on one of the Japanese festivals like a Summer festival but I'm not quite sure how to fit it in. It really would be a great idea to have everyone dressed up. I cannot make it a promise but I can hint at you that I already have plans for Anna to wear a certain costume (keep in mind that I'm forgetful!) but that chapter won't be out for quite a while though ;)**_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: I know, why did he have to die?! T.T I don't think Reisi sparkles like a fairy either, I just thought it would be a great insult for Mikoto to sling at him :D! I think he sparkles in more of a kind of 'movie star' way. What does he sparkle like to you? You really seem to like the Blue King :) PS: Was this the friend you were with when you spat out your juice?**_

_**LindyLinn: I miss him too! Glad you loved the bit with Akemi and Kei as well as the kiss between Anna and Mikoto :) Someone actually did mention what their possible shipping name could be and 'Mikanna' was what the person said it could be :) What do you think?**_

_**LadyCassie: The third part of K you're talking about is the Days of Blue manga where they're making some mention of Tatara's funeral? That's gonna be like heartache for your birthday! Then you have this cancer walk too? Damn, you've got a full schedule! Best of luck to you! And even though it's in about a month's time, I hope you have a really really great birthday no matter what stresses may be thrown your way :)**_

_**Indochine: I'm glad you liked those parts with the flashbacks and with poor Bando :) I actually don't disagree with you with the Seri/Izumo bits. I mean nearly EVERYTHING suggests that they've got some really great chemistry between them. But then have you read the recent Gora tweets on Seri and Munakata? That just confuses me :/ I don't hate Reisi. I think he and Seri go well together but I think Seri and Izumo are a lot more interesting :) I do want to introduce Seri into the story again. I can do it but the only problem I have is that a new plot would enter into the story and it might cause it to drag on for longer than necessary. If I do go with that plot and put her in, it won't be for her really ending up with Izumo but there would be some interaction between the two of them that you could look forward to. I can't promise it happening because I want to see how the story evolves from this chapter on and then decide if to add on that plot. Either way, I still plan on writing what would have happened if Seri chose Izumo based on what happened with the Seri/Reisi/Izumo love triangle from the prequel so you can look forward to that (although I'm not sure as to when I would be doing it). I don't think you were ranting. I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate you telling what you would like to see in the story :) I'm glad you liked the chapter and hope you enjoyed this one as well :)**_

_**Wonderland Reminiscence: I'm really, really pleased that you liked the chapter and you thought so well of it. Thank you :) I really did hear they were going to release something on his funeral :( Why did they have to kill off such an awesome character? T.T Yes, I used the official art released for Mikoto's birthday and I used some information Gora released on how Mikoto's birthday might have gone as a guide for writing what happened that day :) Gray is an interesting character and I like Nightmare too although I pity him when I see him throwing up blood in the manga. I've been going through more stuff on this game and I'm really curious about Ace. It seems that he has some sort of twisted personality or something? What do you think? I also really like Julius too :) I have watched UtaPri. I liked the first season a lot but not so much the second. I kept up with it until episode 10 and never quite got around to finishing it (although I am going to try to watch it out this week). I think it's because I never fancied Cecil although I admit if I gave him a proper chance, I'd really like him. But in my heart, I will always love Satsuki/Natsuki and Tokiya. They're my favorites :) What about you? PS: Yes, Yata I can truly imagine him! Shy and embarrassed! I think he would be a real tsundere :)**_

_**friedchicken: I'm glad you like that part :)**_

_**Mikoto's wife: Wow, that's a really huge compliment you've given me! Thank you :) I can't tell you if or when they're getting married but the answer might come up soon in a future chapter :) I'm also pleased you like the dialogue, that line was actually a favorite of mine as well :) I don't hate Reisi though, I actually really like him. But everyone has their own tastes for various reasons :) It would be totally awesome if that were to happen! **_

_**Vincent: Thanks:) About the rating: I'm not too keen on writing lemons but there are highly adult situations in here and occasional bad language. This falls in line with ffnet's rules for a fic to be rated M. If added in any more 'M', it would have to be rated as MA. **__**Am I a boy or girl? Hm...what do you think? ;) Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing :)**_

_**princessforeveralone: I'm really happy that you're really liking these chapters :) I re-watched some episodes lately, especially episode 6 to see Tatara :( I'm glad that part made you laugh. Thanks and hope you enjoyed this chapter too :)**_

_**annashina: It's been a while! How are you? I'm pleased you're still keeping up and thank you so much for those kind words :)**_

_**DBerryNia: I miss Tatara a lot too :( Both he and Izumo really were mother hens in Homra! And exactly the way you put it! Glad you enjoyed the Akemi/Kei moments, I have more on them to come ;) I don't like Twilight either! Nothing weird about it! **_

_**Hannah Scholte: Hahaha I'm glad you liked that moment! I never added in any flashbacks in this story with that moment with how Anna and Mikoto reacted to Tatara's death because I also thought it had not been clarified enough but I knew Gora would eventually show it in some way. Thankfully they did and I'm glad they had Anna hug Mikoto. Funny how you said Mikoto is cute because it's almost exactly how his train of thought went earlier in this chapter ;)**_

**Thanks again for reading, please let me know your thoughts on this chapter. **

**God bless :)**


	26. Summer Storm

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: For all of you who expressed concern about me in terms of my health, thank you so much. I have to get a lot of rest because of stress-related issues. That's why my updates have become so much slower. I will try to update more quickly, but if I don't, I'm really sorry and I hope you will still keep interest with the story. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 26: Summer Storm**_

Summertime generally meant fun time for most people.

Kids were on vacation, the sky was blue, fruits were ripening...

And mosquitoes were hatching.

That's right: **mosquitoes**.

Aside from the hot, disgustingly humid weather, mosquitoes were a big problem.

Especially if you stayed over at a friend's place and the air conditioning broke down, leading to the windows having to be opened to get in some air...which also meant welcoming the the little bastards with open arms.

Mosquito repellant?

A dozen different brands were available on the market.

Did they actually work?

Not really.

At least not on a particular white haired female.

That was why Anna Kushina stood before the mirror in her room, observing the red spots on her skin.

Many might envy her for the very paleness of her skin.

But that did not mean that there were no repercussions from it.

Her skin was absolutely sensitive to markings. They showed up more prominently on her flesh compared to other people due to the paleness of her complexion.

The young girl had been tortured the night before at Akemi's place when the mosquitoes had descended to attack her.

Not that she had not become aggravated enough to restrain herself from attacking back: she had used her marbles to chase them around the apartment.

But that had been a bit pointless.

The tiny winged demons were limitless while she was just one person and her power and marbles were limited.

The result of her rowdy night with those creatures were a series of red marks on her back. They had clouded over large expanses of her skin and had even joined together to create large splotches on her.

She also some in front, just under her collar bone.

Anna released a soft sigh as she picked up the shirt she was going to wear on today.

The heat was so disgusting that she had found herself 'borrowing' Mikoto's clothes.

They were soft and very comfortable. The fabric was thin and airy on her slender body-perfect for wearing during the current heat wave they were having.

During her time in Homra, Anna would spend most of her time up in her room with nothing but her underwear and one of Mikoto's shirt on. She would switch on the fan and sit in front of it with her hair tied into a ponytail.

If she went downstairs, she would wear on her dresses. The bar was at least air conditioned.

Somewhat.

Unfortunately, Japan had fallen into an economic slump. It was not bad quite yet as the government was already trying to place policies in to regulate the economy, but businesses had slowed down due to a lack of customers.

This included Bar Homra.

As a result, Izumo had to find ways of cutting back on costs in order to salvage some profit. After all, even if the Red Clan earned a hefty sum of money from their activities, Izumo did not run his bar based on it. He ran his business as a business, meaning that he relied on the inflow of revenue from his customers' spending and not from the clan's outside jobs.

If he had less customers, then he had less revenue.

If he had less revenue but the same overhead costs, then he had less profit.

Hence, the only other option he had was to try to reduce his costs in order to increase his profit. Air conditioning tended to raise the power bill to quite a lot and Izumo decided to turn it down during the day when there were not so many patrons.

Thus, for the reason of heat, Anna was usually upstairs.

In her underwear.

In Mikoto's clothes.

Trying to beat this horrible heat that made her sluggish and sweaty.

Even the three red marbles she had placed upon her desk were moving in a slow, almost fatigued pattern.

* * *

The weather affected Mikoto as well. He was on edge most of the time and tended to get grumpy a lot more quickly than usual. He was intolerable of anyone who knocked on his door and disturbed his sleep and he grew bored much more quickly than usual.

And today, even sleeping seemed like such a _chore_ for him in this weather.

Yep, the Red King had become even more lazy.

The increased temperature called for a particular short sleeved shirt that Mikoto saved for sweltering days like these. Unfortunately, he could not find it as he searched around his closet.

Mikoto scowled. If he hadn't had a cold shower just now to cool him down, he would have burned the wardrobe to ash in annoyance.

Where was that damned shirt anyway?

He thought back and recalled that when he had locked Anna up in his room several months ago, she had developed a habit of using his clothes on occasion. The frequency of such incidents had increased since Summer had started.

She also did ask for his permission to use some of his shirts and she always specified which ones she took.

Mikoto tsked.

The last time she had come in to tell him, he had cut her off saying, "Anna, stop. Just use it,"

She was no way offended by his exasperated tone for she knew that this was him pointing out to her that he found it tiresome that she always came to him about it.

Funnily enough, he kind of liked the idea that she wore what he did.

Either way, if the shirt wasn't here, it meant Anna had taken it.

She probably looked better than he did in it too.

Still, Mikoto needed that article of clothing.

Today simply _required_ it.

So, dressed only in jeans with his towel draped about his shoulders, he walked outside of his room and went to Anna's. He opened the door without knocking.

"Anna, do you have-" he stopped at the sight of her.

She did indeed have the he wanted. She was facing him and her back was aimed at the body length mirror she had.

The shirt was completely unbuttoned at the front, revealing her scarlet underwear that barely concealed her beautiful curves. There was that lacy bra that pushed those two firm breasts of hers together that formed a deep cleavage and those sexy briefs that hugged her around her hips and the sweet curve of her backside.

Oh, Anna was certainly _not_ a little girl anymore.

But what really bothered Mikoto was not actually what she wore on.

Something else had drawn his attention.

Anna seemed to be observing something on her back and the shirt was hanging down midway behind her.

Her hair was over one shoulder, therefore revealed to him was the milky skin of the other one, along with her long, slender neck and her collarbone.

Anna stiffened at the sight of her king. The marbles on her desk had stopped their movement with her power abruptly, due to her being startled by Mikoto's presence. One of them rolled off the dresser and fell to the floor with a soft 'clack'.

She turned away quickly and pulled the shirt over her before hastily pulling the lapels together.

"Mikoto," she whispered and began to quickly do up the shirt.

The man looked too damned good right now.

With those jeans that rode under his bellybutton pressing perfectly straight against the flat of his hard lower stomach, and the way the water drops from his dripped onto his clean, cool skin...oh and that deep red hair of his being slicked down rather than wildly growing upward made the King just look seem like highly addictive dark chocolate to Anna right now.

She froze when she sensed him come behind her and saw his reflection in the mirror.

She had expected Mikoto to leave the room, but he had not. The marble that had fallen to the floor began moving again, almost glowing red in a threatening manner. It lifted up and was replaced onto her desk before swirling around and deliberately slamming into the other two marbles in an angry manner.

This was not her power doing this to it.

It was Mikoto's.

Glancing over her shoulder, her eyes widened at the sight of him coming toward her. His movements were slow, almost relaxed but there was an air of menace about him.

She blinked. What was wrong?

He stopped right behind her. Both his hands were placed in his pockets and his feet were set apart in what might seem like a casual stance.

However, Anna knew that he was brooding.

Still watching over her back, she observed as his hand caught her shoulder and she was slowly, ever so slowly turned around to properly face him.

Anna looked up at her handsome King. Normally, his physical body would appear black and white in her line of vision, except for his chest area where his beautiful red showed the most. Somehow her eyesight had matured in such a way that she was able to decipher his physical body as separate from the red of his powers.

The only other part of him that the red would show up in was his eyes.

And that tended to happened when something had seriously pissed him off or if he ended up drawing too much power from the Dresden Slate.

And it seemed that he was certainly ticked off about something.

Those normally amber eyes were glowing rouge with simmering anger as he looked at her.

"Who did this?" he demanded lowly.

Ah, the angry lion in him was coming out. If she didn't answer properly, that beast would show itself.

And it wouldn't be pretty.

Impatience seemed to get the best of Mikoto because he did not wait for her to speak or ask what he was even talking about: he caught her hands that were still on the lower part of the shirt, trying to button them up. He shoved them away and grasped the left shoulder of the cloth and wrenched it downward in one swift movement which revealed her pale shoulder along with the bright red of the bra that covered her full breasts...and the red marks on her skin.

Anna glanced down at the mar to her skin, realizing that Mikoto must have seen them when he came in.

He was _furious_.

"Mikoto," she began, but was cut off when another voice called from the doorway.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Izumo shouted.

* * *

Apparently, Mikoto had a made a crazy assumption that someone had touched Anna in an inappropriate way because of the red marks he had glimpsed.

As for Izumo who had heard a bit of noise when he had come upstairs. He made another assumption about the pair because of how they looked:

Mikoto was wearing on nothing but his favorite pair of jeans with nothing else on except that towel around his neck. His body was probably still cool from the shower he had just had and his brilliant red hair was still damp.

His lithe figure had a tight and almost possessive hold on Anna.

The female was wearing on a man's shirt-Mikoto's obviously.

The front was almost completely down.

Her red bra was showing.

And there were _kiss marks_ on her chest!

The only person who she would allow to do that (at least in Izumo's mind) was Mikoto and the evidence was right there because they certainly weren't in an innocent-like position!

Before either could explain, Izumo walked over to them.

Mikoto leaned off Anna and straightened up, meeting Izumo eye to eye. The two were almost the same height. Izumo was just a tiny bit taller.

This didn't intimidate the red haired man in any kind of way.

Godzilla could fix the Red King with a fierce look and the man in question wouldn't even be bothered.  
Izumo glared at Mikoto.

"What the heck are you thinking?! You know what this means right? You-"

"It's not what you're thinking," Mikoto calmly informed him.

"Not what I'm thinking?! Mikoto, you gave Anna hickeys! You're melting her innocence away like sugar!" Izumo accused.

Mikoto sighed wearily.

"I didn't give them to Anna," he said. Then he turned his own full blown glare at the young girl who was busy buttoning up the shirt now. "so I'd like to know who did."

Anna paused when she reached the last button at the top.

She lifted her face to her King and his second in command.

What a sight indeed she did make wearing on that white shirt that had a material that was thin enough to hint at the sexy red of her underwear. The lapels brushed against the tops of her thighs and her legs were long and perfectly shaped.

"Mosquitoes," she replied as she wandered over to her dresser to get a hold of a cotton ball to use to dab at her reddened skin.

Those guys were really overprotective of her.

She understood that, but it did not mean she did not become irked their ridiculous behavior sometimes.

Maybe she didn't realize that it was jealousy and possessiveness on Mikoto's part.

Maybe she was too irritated with them to realize that Izumo had made assumptions with the knowledge of the attraction between herself and her King.

For her, it was simply annoying to have two people barge into her room and demanding questions due to a baseless assumption.

Perhaps it was something normal for the red clan because they tended to be a little too hot headed for their own good, but it did not mean that she going to feel nothing when they acted like this.

Anna picked up the bottle of rubbing alcohol and dabbed some of its contents onto the cotton.

"Mosquitoes?" Izumo repeated.

"Akemi's air-conditioning broke down last night and we had to open the windows which let the mosquitoes in."

Her voice was very quiet. People who did not know her would think that she was unaffected by their behavior. However, Izumo and Mikoto knew her well enough to understand that they had upset her a bit.

They also didn't need her to explain anymore to them. The heat wave was so bad that it had even affected Seneca which was usually very cold in the Summer time. Both Izumo and Mikoto were very much aware that Anna's skin, due to its paleness, was highly sensitive.

She had gotten sunburned badly on her arms when they had taken her to the beach when she was little.

"_That looks painful!" Yata exclaimed as Anna sat on the couch with Tatara behind her. Revealed to them was the red skin that had been damaged by the sun. _

"_Thank goodness Anna's hair is long otherwise her back would have gotten it too," Izumo said from the counter._

_Mikoto had just come in with some medication for her. He frowned upon sight of Anna. Never once did she complain or show that she was in pain. _

_But then again, Anna was excellent at never showing how much hurt she felt._

* * *

Mosquito bites had been rare on Anna because of her long clothing but it would not be surprising if her skin had become damaged because of it.

"Ah...I see. I'm sorry," Izumo apologized.

Anna let out a weary sigh.

Her clansmen would never changed and she loved them to bits. She would forgive him. It was not like he had actually accused her-he had accused Mikoto though.

"It's alright," she assured him.

Izumo gave her a kind smile and left. He had not really paid too much attention to what she was wearing either. After all, he did not feel that it was appropriate to eye the partially clothed body of the person he was the legal guardian of, and who would more than likely someday marry his best friend.

After Izumo left, Mikoto stayed behind.

Anna waited for him to speak as she tied her hair into a ponytail.

"Show me," he ordered.

The girl obeyed. He was her King after all.

She unbuttoned the shirt at the top and turned around. She drew it down her shoulders enough to reveal the mosquito bites and just a hint of her red bra.

Mikoto slowly walked over to her.

Not a flab of fat moved on body when he walked over to her.

He was so fit, his chest so hard and his abs so tight. The summer had made him lightly tanned. He was never really one to suffer from sunburns like she was.

Mikoto stopped right in front of her.

He lifted a hand and lightly touched the reddened area.

Anna shivered slightly at the feel of his warm fingertips. Affection between them was limited to cheek kisses and small occasional nuzzles now.

This was the first time in ages she was able to feel him touch her body itself like this.

"I didn't believe that you would willing let someone do this to you," Mikoto informed quietly as he lightly stroked her skin.

Anna tilted her head to the side.

"You didn't?"

Mikoto's hand slowly traced upward before cupping her shoulders. "No."

Anna blinked twice.

"You thought...someone forced me?"

He didn't reply but she knew that this meant that he really had thought so.

Her annoyance with him lessened significantly at that.

She stiffened when he lowered his head and pressed his warm lips against the mar to her skin.

His thick red hair was brushing against her neck and his nose was pressed against her as he gave her soft little kisses.

Anna blushed furiously and lifted her hands to his broad shoulders to stop him.

"Mikoto stop. Please. They're ugly," she protested.

Mikoto lifted his head and lightly kissed her chin before drawing back. "They're not," he assured her with a sigh.

Why were women so touchy with these little things?

"How did you get them there?" he asked.

"I was wearing a low cut nightdress. It was very hot," she replied.

Hot, very hot.

The weather was hot.

And the girl in front him was _hot_.

He could almost envision her bathed with sweat, wearing on a short, thin nightdress, looking ripe, ready to be plucked and eaten...

Ah no, no.

He can't think like that.

Not yet anyway.

"My back as well," she added.

"Hm?"

"They bit me on my back," she elaborated.

"Is that so?" Mikoto murmured and spun her around before she could stop him.

He gripped her by the elbows. He released one only to shift the shirt. After a soft rustle of the material, he saw several red, angry marks to her skin caused by those evil little insects.

Mikoto lifted his eyebrows.

"Doesn't this hurt?" he queried.

"They itch. A lot."

She felt his fingertips lightly trace the skin there. They were calloused and warm and almost made her shiver.

"Mikoto...I can't reach some of my back. Will you...?" she requested shyly.

In response, he took the cotton ball from between her fingers.

Anna hissed softly when he pressed the alcohol soaked cotton a little too hard into her back. Some of the liquid leaked out and slid down her naked flesh, almost tickling her.

Mikoto's response was to use his free hand to cup her other shoulder and gently rub his thumb in circles to soothe her.

"Mikoto, where did you go last night?" Anna queried.

"Out," he replied as he stroked the cotton on her skin.

Anna was used to his short, curt, uninformative answers. Still, she continued, "You went to see the Gold King,"

Mikoto sighed.

She would have noticed. If Mikoto himself did not inform her that he would not be home at night, it meant that he went out for an unexpected reason. If he took Izumo with him, which Anna had noted, then that meant that he had more than likely gone to see the Gold King.

"Yes."

"Was it about the Rise?" she pressed as he shifted his attention to the final reddened spot.

"Yeah. Toshi's execution date has been decided."

Anna's eyebrows lifted at that. "They're finally going to do it?"

He gave a soft grunt as a response, affirming that yes, they were finally going to get rid off the man. As Mikoto finished his task he let her know, "Some time in November,"

Anna blinked and turned around to face her King.

"No one is going to stop it?"

"No. The Gold King made some changes to the laws to suit cases like Toshi's. No matter what reason there may be, even if we discover his labs, Toshi's execution _will_ happen," he answered as he walked over to the small wastebasket beside her desk and threw the cotton ball inside of it.

"I see," she murmured.

Mikoto proceeded to pull at the towel that was still around his neck and threw it Anna. She caught it easily but still did not realize that Mikoto was trying to get her to cover herself up a little better.

Instead, she removed the shirt from off her shoulders with one hand. She clutched Mikoto's towel to her chest. It was long enough to hide the front of her body as she walked over to the king who gave her a lopsided frown.

She handed him the shirt and gave him a small smile.

"It's the one Mikoto wants, isn't it?"

Despite his frown, he reached over and ruffled her hair kindly.

Without words, she knew what he required and she gave it to him. She really was a very understanding person.

"Do you have another one to wear?" he asked after he turned around and shrugged on the item of clothing.

"There's that one," she replied.

Mikoto's hands that had been about to button up his shirt dropped to his side. "Huh?" he glanced over his shoulder at her and she turned her attention to her chair. He followed her line of vision and saw a long sleeved shirt there.

"Is that so?" Mikoto said and observed as she wandered over to the chair. She set the towel aside and picked up the new shirt.

Her breasts jiggled in her bra.

Up and down with every step she took.

Like two water balloons that were filled enough to be firm, but needed to be handled with care lest they burst.

Oh, the movement of those two mounds of flesh did not slide past Mikoto and he was thankful that she turned around so that her back faced him. Mikoto tsked quietly and ran a hand through his thick red hair. He paused when he caught sight of what seemed to be the poster on her bed. Anna turned around when she heard the rustling of paper and saw that Mikoto was holding up the poster that had been on her bed.

"Oi...what is this?" Mikoto asked, quite stunned by what was revealed on the poster.

Anna came to stand beside him. She was now decently covered with the new shirt.

It was a poster of the Korean boy band, _Super Junior_ with all the original thirteen members.

"Akemi gave this to me."

"Why would she give you a picture of a bunch of soft faced punks?" he questioned a bit sourly. How could he possibly like the idea of Anna hanging a picture of a bunch _feminine_ looking guys on the wall? They were really masculine looking but Mikoto just saw them as a bunch of brats who looked like they still had their mother's milk in their faces.

"I don't know. I heard one of their songs and I said I liked it so she gave this to me. They're from Korea I think."

Mikoto snorted. "Couldn't she find something Japanese?"

"Does Mikoto think them strange?" Anna queried.

He grunted. "Look at their weird hairstyles. Of course something's creepy about them. Especially this girly one."

**_(A/N: If you're into Super Junior, can you guess which one Mikoto is referring to as the 'girly' one? Hint: he'd make a really pretty girl)._**

Anna remained very silent on that. The only indication that there was something amusing running through her mind was the very slight twitch of her mouth-something that did not slide past Mikoto's gaze.

Indeed, Mikoto shouldn't be on to talk about hairstyles, considering his own wild one.

"Is there something you want to say to me, Anna?" Mikoto asked very calmly.

She froze.

"No," she replied although she could had a feeling that he knew _exactly_ what she was thinking.

One of his arms came around her shoulders unexpectedly and she was tugged hard against his side. She fell against his material of his shirt but had to brace herself by pressing her open palm on his flat, naked stomach.

Anna looked up at him and saw his golden eyes watching down at her with a gleam in them.

"Oh? Are you sure?" he asked, as if daring her to speak her mind.

He dropped the poster onto her bed and waited for her to speak.

Anna swallowed hard.

"Mikoto's hairstyle is different from everyone else's too," she told him while managing a completely straight face.

Mikoto continued to look at her ever so calmly.

"Is that so?"

She nodded.

Then, without warning, Mikoto grasped her and pulled her to fully face him. In quick movements, he took hold of the extra-long sleeves of the shirt she was wearing and crossed them over each other so that her arms were forced to be folded together.

Then, he tied the loose ends of the sleeves behind her, trapping both her arms in the shirt now.

In other words, she looked as though she was wearing a straitjacket.

Anna glanced down at herself when Mikoto stepped back to admire his work on her.

Then she turned rosy gaze upon him.

"Why did you do this, Mikoto?" she asked softly.

Ah, she had moved to using his name _without_ referring to him in the third person when speaking. Combine that with that almost dark tone of voice and it suggested that she was rather upset with him.

He shrugged.

"I just did what I wanted to."

Anna was silent for a long moment while Mikoto produced a cigarette magically from one of his pockets and proceeded to smoke it.

"Mikoto, will you let me out?" she questioned after a long, patient moment.

It was one thing to tie her up like this. It was another to actually _leave_ her like that in such a nonchalant manner.

He sneered. "Oh? Why should I?"

"My arms hurt."

"Liar."

Anna fell quiet once more.

It was obvious the King was bored. Maybe her words about his hairstyle had prodded at his temper which was especially volatile in this heat. But it seemed that he might have acted more on whim to derive some sort of strange amusement from her.

This wasn't actually very pleasing to the white-haired female.

She didn't like what he was doing and he knew it, yet he still carried on with his little trick on her.

"Mikoto...Mikoto is mean," Anna couldn't help but say in a toneless voice.

Mikoto cocked an eyebrow at her. Her cheeks were burning red as she turned away from him. Her eyes were narrowed very slightly and her lower lip poked very, very slightly.

How..._interesting_.

Anna was _pouting_ at her confounding situation.

"Am I mean the mean one? You classed me with a bunch of weirdoes because of my hair," he reminded her. His hair had become a touchy subject since she had ascribed it to a rooster on more than one occasion.

Her eyes darted up to his. Mikoto couldn't help but be amused by her right now. In truth, he liked the idea of riling her up just to see her reaction.

On this boring, hot day, her behavior intrigued him.

To see the normally expressionless girl show some sort of emotion on her face was a refreshing sight for the king.

"I didn't mean it like that. Your hair is different too...but Mikoto is the most handsome," she informed him.

Mikoto looked at her for a moment longer.

Then, he moved his hand and kindly patted her head.

"I see," he murmured.

That waif.

With just a few words, she was capable of making him obey her and let her out of the shirt. When she was little, just one look was all it took for him to give into her. It was like he had been wrapped around her pinky! And it seemed that in some ways, he still was.

Anna was surprised at the sudden change of his mood.

He turned her around gently and grasped at the knot he had tied behind her back with the sleeves.

Unfortunately, he had done the knot so well, that it was becoming troublesome to undo it.

"Mikoto?" Anna voiced his name when it seemed that he had spent too long behind her, trying to undo the binding.

He did not reply, but did pause.

From Mikoto's view, the sleeves were tied together behind her and her hands were still a good distance away from the knot.

So instead of going through all of this trouble, why not just _burn_ the knot off?

Anna inhaled sharply when she felt intense heat behind her. It was from Mikoto's power. She could even hear the familiar flare of this flames.

Then, her arms were suddenly loose.

She immediately pulled the shirt sleeves in front of her.

Or rather...what was _left_ of them.

Where there were once snow white cuffs, was now two blackened holes that were still so crisp, so fresh from their burning that ash fell from them like debris from a cigarette butt.

"It's completely ruined now," Anna told him.

Mikoto's eyes flicked to it before he took a drag from his cigarette. "Yeah, that's true,"

Hadn't he realized that he was going to destroy the shirt?

But then again, he was a bit...hard headed.

"I need to get this off," Anna said but was afraid to use her hands which were still almost completely covered by the damaged sleeves.

Since they were still hot, they could burn her skin.

Mikoto sighed and stuck his cigarette between his lips. His large hands began to undo the plastic buttons for her and she observed at his expertise in doing this.

It made her wonder what it would be like if he slowly removed her clothes like this, as a man, as her lover, rather than as her King and her protector.

* * *

Yata hurried up the stairs excitedly. Today was a great day for going out! No rain, just pure sun and a bright blue sky! Who cared if the weatherman claimed heavy showers later?! He always made wrong predictions anyway!

So, why not take Anna with himself and Emi out for ice cream?!

Anna's door was open and he stepped inside, thinking it was alright.

However, to his shock, he saw his beloved King standing there with his shirt completely undone in the front. His hair wasn't combed and therefore it retained its natural style of growing downward.

Anna was standing in front of the King in what seemed to be a man's white shirt.

Mikoto's hands were undoing the buttons of the shirt she was wearing.

It crossed his mind that something..._intimate_ was going to happen between those two.

"Misaki...?" Anna voiced his name when she caught sight of the dumbfounded skateboarder.

"I'm sorry, I'll come back later!" he exclaimed and ran off before she could stop him.

* * *

Ah, the heat made everyone sweat buckets out there.

Moods ran high, people's tempers tended to be more fiery.

Did this affect the Red Clan?

Indeed it did.

Most of the time they tended to fight with each other because they just liked fighting and the weather was perfect for beating the crap out of each other.

But there were times when they were too lethargic to fight.

Like when the heat was too much and they found themselves lying on the ground outside, baking like hot cakes under the sun.

Like Kamamoto Rikio who seemed to be imitating a fried egg right now with his lightly tanned skin and yellow head.

"Oi, you're going to frighten away my customers," Izumo said to him.

Kamamoto was lying facedown on the ground at the front door of the bar.

"Sorry, Kusanagi-san. My summer fatigue is just getting to me today," Kamamoto apologized.

Izumi sighed.

"I don't mind you cosplaying as a slug, Kamamoto, but I must keep my patrons in mind you know. Here, let me help you up," the bartender offered.

He reached down and pulled his clanman up. He placed one arm over the oddly thin shoulders of the normally chunky man and pulled the skinny arm of his around his neck.

Just as the pair returned inside, Yata sprang downstairs.

"Eh? Yata-chan, what's up?" Izumo questioned.

Yata's face was completely red, as if he was embarrassed by something. He seemed to even almost have tears running down his face.

"Why is it me, Kusanagi-san?! Why is it always me?!" he wailed.

Izumo was stunned and confused.

Even Kamamoto lifted his head and gazed at his friend with puzzlement written across his face.

Izumo released yet another sigh.

Summertime made his clansmen either violent or lethargic.

And probably even more stupid than usual.

"Come on. I'll feed you some sake and you can tell me all about it."

* * *

"It wasn't what you thought," Izumo assured the short fellow.

Yata gripped the sake bottle tightly. "But every time I see them together, they're always cuddling, or kissing, or necking! Now I just saw them half-naked! I didn't mean to walk into them, but...but how come this shit always happens to me?!"

Izumo rolled his eyes. "I'm telling ya, Yata-chan, it isn't what you think. They're just really close."

"Close enough to shower together!"

At least that was what the short man thought the pair had done. Why else would they be looking like that (Anna in a shirt, the King with his own unbuttoned and his hair uncombed)?

"Even if that was true, Yata-chan, why should it bother you?" Izumo asked.

"Because, because," Yata sniffed, "I feel like I'm always intruding upon their privacy!"

"What are you whining about?" came Mikoto's voice.

Everyone looked up to see Anna walking coming toward.

Following closely behind her was Mikoto. After Yata had run off, Chitose had called to say he was coming over. Anna had chosen a dress to come downstairs with. It was a red thin strapped summer dress that fell just above her knees. There was a large red flower tied with a ribbon at the side of her waist on the dress.

Meanwhile Mikoto went on to finally buttoning up his shirt. It was a bit wrinkled now after all the interaction it had between its owner and Anna.

As Anna had finished changing around the same time Mikoto finished handling his hair, they had ended up coming down to the bar together.

Izumo decided that perhaps he ought to relieve Yata's mind and at least let the young man know that when he walked in on Anna and Mikoto, he wasn't really intruding upon any sort of sexual activities.

"What were you two doing?" Izumo asked Anna specifically with a smile when she came to sit at the bar. If he asked Mikoto, he would get some sort of uninformative, half-answer.

Anna might explain things better.

"Mikoto put me in a straitjacket," she replied without expression and with a blank tone.

"Huh?" everyone went except Mikoto.

Said man was scratching his stomach under his shirt. He might need a nap soon.

"I did not put you in a straitjacket," he denied. He slid into the seat beside hers.

Izumo looked from one to the other.

Neither would lie.

So what had really happened?

"Ah...Anna, what did Mikoto do to you?" Izumo questioned slowly before putting a glass of orange juice in front of her.

Anna took a sip from it and glanced at Mikoto momentarily from under her thick dark eyelashes. This gave the King the impression he was being glared at. It seemed as though she was still upset about that, as well as the way he had burned the shirt in the end.

Then, quite calmly, Anna placed her glass in front of her ever so daintily and said, "Mikoto _bullied_ me,"

Before Mikoto could defend himself, Yata caught his face between his palms and gasped out loud.

"Mikoto-san put hickeys on Anna!"

Both the king and the princess looked at him with confusion now. Then, Anna glanced down and saw that part of her collarbone had been exposed, revealing the red marks.

"Mikoto-san has an interesting way of bullying," Kamamoto remarked.

Yata suddenly puffed out his chest and exclaimed, "As expected of Mikoto-san! He put his mark on Anna to show all those dirty bastards out there that she's his!"

Anna's cheeks grew red to the point of roasting while Mikoto sipped on the water given to him thoughtfully.

Put his mark on Anna to keep those perverted bastards away? Hm...that didn't sound like a bad idea.

"I know what you're thinking, Mikoto and don't even try it...until you're married!" Izumo hissed at him lowly enough for only him to hear.

Mikoto sighed.

"M-Mosquito bites," Anna managed to admit, despite feeling so terribly embarrassed. Her cheeks were slightly red and her mouth had formed into a thin line. These were the only indications of the discomfort she was feeling aside from the very slight stutter in her voice.

"Mosquito bites?" Yata repeated.

Anna nodded as she regained composure and returned to sipping her juice.

"See? You assume too much," Izumo told the younger man.

"But when I walked in on you-"

"Mikoto was helping me out of my clothes," Anna finished. She hadn't realized how _suggestive_ her words sounded.

Izumo paused. "Wait, why was Mikoto taking off your clothes in the first place?"

"Because he put me in a straitjacket and couldn't get me out of it."

Mikoto reached across and tugged on the flesh of her cheek threateningly. His golden eyes were very stern on her.

"Who put you in a straitjacket, brat?"

Anna clutched his wrist between her two small white hands and attempted to push his hand away.

"Mikoto. Mikoto put me in one," she replied.

Mikoto released her flesh and flicked the middle of her forehead with his index finger.

Anna brought her hands to her forehead and rubbed at the mark.

The normally tubby clansman and the skateboarder watched with shock as their King brushed their princess's hands away and kissed the slightly red spot on her forehead before moving to nuzzle at the other mark he had caused to her face.

Anna fixed him with a stare that could suggest that this was her way of frowning at him. Perhaps Mikoto understood because he shrugged at her as if saying, 'get over it' and picked up the glass of water Izumo had placed on the counter for him.

Kamamoto and Yata glanced from one to the other.

This was an interesting interaction.

It was only on very rare instances that Anna and Mikoto were displeased with each other.

This was one such instance.

However, what was more fascinating to them was the conversation they were having.

It was like they were arguing only they hadn't raised their voices. Almost like a subtle form of disagreement.

"Er...Kusanagi-san, it doesn't sound like I misunderstood anything," Yata commented.

Izumo snorted.

Of course, when two people talking about being alone in a room together with someone's clothes being taken off, it really did sound like something strange occurred.

Before anyone could continue, the door to the bar opened with a clang.

"Greetings, comrades...*cough* *cough*..."

Chitose was dressed in his normal plaid shirt and jeans but had a white mask on his face.

In his left hand was a car seat with a familiar, cute baby in it.

At six months old, Tamotsu was still a chubby, adorable baby with sweet, rosy cheeks and a drooly smile.

"Eh? What's happened? You're sick?" Izumo asked.

Chitose coughed once more.

"Stupid summer cold is going around. Maria got called out on a job so I'm stuck at home with Tamotsu. Sorry, but could you guys help me out a little? I feel like I'm dying here."

"As long as we don't have to change any dirty diapers, we'll help out," Izumo told him. He walked over from behind the counter and unstrapped Tamotsu while Chitose lay down on the couch with an arm over his eyes.

Izumo lifted the baby up and the child immediately reached over for the bartender's glasses.

"You sure look like death passed over you," Kamamoto remarked from the opposite couch.

Chitose cleared his throat before speaking.

"I don't wanna hear that from a guy who's quickly withering away," Chitose rasped.

Izumo learned that he had a soft spot for children. Perhaps becoming like Anna's parent or older brother had made him like that. He willingly allowed the baby to take his glasses.

"Have you been to the doctor?" he asked Chitose.

From the couch, the sickly man looked at him. Behind his mask, he gave a feverish smile. "Maybe it's just me, but you've got a pretty darned good looking face, Kusanagi-san."

Izumo frowned.

"I don't really take that as a compliment coming from you...hey don't chew that," Izumo chided the baby and took away his glasses which were now covered in drool.

The baby squirmed in his arms now that the toy was taken away. He kicked his legs in displeasure.

Until he saw Anna approach him. Then he held out his arms to go to her.

With one of her rare gentle smiles, she took him from Izumo and the baby made a happy sound.

"Ah, Tamotsu-kun really likes Anna," Izumo remarked.

"He doesn't even hug me like that," Chitose agreed with a mournful tone because his son had just wound his chubby little arms around Anna's neck as if he hadn't seen her in a long time. Mikoto came to stand beside the girl and the baby.

He frowned slightly at the child who have him a huge, drool filled grin.

"You didn't answer my earlier question," Izumo reminded Chitose.

"Eh? What was that?"

Izumo made a frustrated noise and folded his arms. "Doctor. Did you go?"

"No, I didn't have time."

"Yata and Kamamoto can take you. I think Anna, Mikoto and myself can handle Tamotsu for an hour or so on our own."

Chitose's eyes became thoughtful. He mumbled behind his mask, "Anna's no problem but I'm not sure about-"

Izumo caught him by the collar. Smiling like a crocodile, he said, "What was that, Chitose-_kun_? I didn't quite hear you. Your sickness might be going to your brain if this is the way you speak about the people who are trying to help you,"

Chitose lifted his hands in defense.

"I don't doubt you guys at all! I just don't want to give you guys any problems!"

Izumo sighed and let him go. "Look, we'll take care of him. Can't you see your son is pretty happy with Anna and the King?"

Chitose looked over at the young woman and the man at her side. Tamotsu was gripping a strand of Anna's hair while looking over her shoulder at Mikoto who was patting his head kindly. Tamotsu who normally a fussy child was quite calm with these two.

The child's father smiled gently behind his mask.

"Yeah, he's pretty happy."

* * *

Mikoto hadn't intended to search out Anna and Tamotsu. After Chitose had left with Yata and Kamamoto, he had gone up to his room to take a nap.

However, there were happy noises that were reaching him from the room Izumo had built recently. The single futon still remained there. Anna must be in there with Tamotsu because it was the baby's laughter that Mikoto was hearing.

Normally, the red head could sleep under any conditions.

But a baby's joy was something different.

It made his own heart lighter.

But he would never admit to that.

He left his room and went to find Anna and the baby.

When he came across them, Tamotsu was sitting up on the futon in only his diaper. It seemed that the hot weather had made him rather moody. Chitose had advised them before he left to strip him in case he seemed to be feeling too warm.

Anna had come upstairs with him because some rowdy men had come into the bar and Izumo felt that it was better she go upstairs with the baby.

At least they were now able to plug in a fan in the room now.

Anna was kneeling in front of the baby and between them, her three marbles were swirling at eye level with Tamotsu.

He watched with fascination at their movement.

"Anna," Mikoto voiced her name.

She turned her attention to him. The marbles still continued moving.

"You shouldn't do that," he said to her.

She tilted her head to the side and blinked, as if asking, 'Why not?'

The answer came when she sensed one of her marbles was no longer in her control. Tamotsu had grabbed one out of the air and was holding it in his fist. He brought it to his mouth as if about to eat it.

"That's why," Mikoto answered.

"Tamotsu, give it back to me," Anna told him in a firm voice.

The baby ignored her and was about to shove the red bead into his mouth.

"Drop it, brat," Mikoto ordered.

Immediately, the baby obeyed and the marbled dropped onto the futon. Once sighting Mikoto, the marbles no longer interested him. He gave Mikoto a happy look and gave a cheerful laugh before turning over and creeping toward the King who most people tended to regard as terribly frightening.

Mikoto observed the baby coming toward him. As soon as Tamotsu arrived at his feet, he shifted and sat on his bottom on the floor with his legs outstretched.

He seemed content to just look at Mikoto.

The baby's cheeks were rosy. Either his laughter or the heat made his face red like that.

Mikoto grunted. The little creature was capable of melting any block of ice by just grinning with that toothless mouth of his.

The King stooped in front of the child and the baby clapped his hands once as if glad that the man had brought himself closer.

Suddenly, there came loud crash and the sound of thunder rolled in the sky, echoing throughout Shizume City.

The noise startled Anna and even Mikoto looked up in reaction to the sudden loud noise.

Tamotsu's reaction wasn't so silent. He let out a whimper and then a loud wail because this was the first time since the six months he had come into this world that he had ever heard something like that!

His crying surprised Mikoto more than the thunder did.

It troubled him almost as much as the first time Anna had ever run to him for comfort after a nightmare.

"What's the matter with him?" Mikoto asked, uncertain about what to do about the sobbing mess of a baby at his feet.

Anna hurried over and picked up the baby in her arms. He hugged her tightly and Anna patted his back comfortingly.

"He's probably terrified of the thunder," Anna replied.

As if proving its fear inspiring power, lightning flashed and thunder once more let out an earth shattering sound. The baby let out a scream and hugged Anna even harder.

Rain was already pouring and it was really a pity for anyone out there in that weather right now.

Mikoto could tell that the crying child was distressing Anna. From the way her eyebrows cringed slightly to the terse way her mouth formed into a straight line were all tell-tale signs that she was uncertain about how to make the baby stop crying.

If anything, a child screeching in fear the way he did was more frightening than any thunderstorm.

"Hush, it's alright," was her attempt to soothe baby. She rocked him in her arms and he quieted but once more the thunder decided to traumatize the little one.

Anna swallowed hard.

This was difficult. How did mothers manage? This wasn't even her child and she was already becoming fast upset. This was because as a person who had been traumatized in the past, she did not like to see children in pain.

And to see a little baby like that just served to upset her more because she felt so helpless against guarding him against his fears!

Anna herself felt like crying!

Until she felt a warm hand on her own back.

She glanced up and saw Mikoto looking down at her. All those troubling feelings inside of her began to melt away from his simple touch.

Then, his golden eyes went to the baby who had paused in his wailing to eye Mikoto.

"Aren't you a man?" he demanded roughly.

The baby hiccuped in response.

"Stop crying and be a man," he reprimanded the little one.

Who knew if Tamotsu actually understood Mikoto's words? Maybe the child reacted to his tone for he immediately quieted. When another roll of thunder came, he squeezed his eyes shut but sucked in the noise, trying to be brave as Mikoto had encouraged him to do.

Once the noise passed he reached his arms out to Mikoto.

Mikoto frowned. The baby wanted to come to him?

Snot was running down the brat's nose.

His fat cheeks were wet with tears.

His eyes were red from his crying.

And yet...

The brat remained _cute_.

Mikoto wasn't sure about how to hold him in his arms, but Anna helped him. She placed the child on his chest and Mikoto instinctively held one hand to the little boy's back while another supported his bottom.

The king tried to be as gentle as possible with him because he was aware that if he exerted too much strength, he could hurt the child.

The baby was soft and almost squishy.

When his little arms hugged Mikoto around his neck, the King felt something warm inside of him. Then he realized something he had not before.

He _liked_ the boy.

The red haired man looked at the female beside him. Even if she remained expressionless, her eyes were glowing warmly as if she understood that he had only just realized the favor he had for the baby.

Mikoto grunted.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked her grumblingly although he was well aware that she probably thought it was both nice and funny that he had come to accept the boy. He moved to sit on the futon with the child still in his arms.

Anna did not reply but instead went to Tamotsu's baby bag to get a handkerchief to wipe his nose. After all his crying, he was currently sniffling.

And Mikoto probably wouldn't want to go out for a fight later with baby mucus on his shoulder. The young girl returned to the two males and knelt beside them. She placed a hand on Mikoto's firm bicep in order to prop herself well so that she could properly administer to the baby's tiny nose.

Tamotsu shifted his head to look at Anna.

He blinked his big brown eyes at her. His mouth was contorted into a little pout but it was quite certain that he was slowly cheering up.

Anna gave his head a kind pat and then wiped his nose, then his face in order to dry those tears. Tamotsu released a soft sigh and finally gave her a smile. Then he turned his head away and snuggled closer to Mikoto.

"What's he doing?" Mikoto asked when he felt the child moving against him.

"He's probably tired after all his crying. Maybe he wants to sleep," Anna suggested as she returned the handkerchief to the baby bag that was lying nearby.

"I'm not his bed," Mikoto muttered.

Even if Anna's mouth did not smile, her eyes did.

"If he wants to sleep, you ought to sing to him," the king added.

Anna glanced at him.

"What should I sing?"

Mikoto shrugged. "You always sing to him. Choose what he likes."

Anna blinked.

"I'm not sure. There are many."

Mikoto sighed wearily and removed the sleepy child from his shoulder. He lowered him to the bed and lay him on his back.

Tamotsu shifted to his side and curled into a ball. He simply watched Mikoto.

"Edo Lullaby," the Red King finally suggested after gazing at the small life for a long moment.

Anna was surprised at his choice but she nodded anyway.

With his arms behind his head and a baby lying nearby on the same futon, Mikoto listened to Anna's soothing voice as she began to sing:

_'Hushabye baby, hushabye baby, _

_My good baby, sleep. _

_Where did my boy's baby sitter go?_

_Beyond that mountain, back to her home. _

_As a souvenier from her home, what did you get?_

_A toy drum and a sho flute.'_

Mikoto turned his head when he heard Tamotsu yawn. The baby's eyes seemed to shine on him and he gave the red king a sleepy, gooey smile.

Mikoto snorted at the child before his own eyes began to droop.

Anna's voice was so gentle.

Like calming waves washing over him, slowly pulling him toward the world of sleep.

Anna paused the lullaby when she realized Tamotsu had fallen asleep.

Outside was cool and damp now as she glanced out. The rain was pattering noisily against the window pane of the room.

Mikoto and Tamotsu had the right idea: taking a nap was probably the best thing to do.

Before she imitated their actions, she went to the baby bag again. This time she pulled out a warm yellow blanket which she used to spread over the baby. He was only in his diaper and it didn't seem right that he sleep without anything covering him.

After spreading it over him, she lay down beside the baby so that he was in the middle of the two older people.

Like the king, she lay on her side, facing Tamotsu. The little one inhaled deeply and his chest swelled with his movement. Exhaling, it went down.

How small and fragile a baby was.

Yet full of laughter and giggles that was enough to brighten anyone's day.

* * *

Chitose and the others had made it back from the doctor's in one piece despite the heavy rain. After querying about his son's whereabouts, the sick man slumped on the couch and promptly fell asleep. He knew his child would be safe with Anna.

Maria called shortly afterward, saying that she had completed her job and could come pick up Tamotsu and her husband.

Leaving the bar in Kamamoto's capable hands, Izumo headed upstairs to let Anna know that she could bring the baby down now.

However, he didn't have the heart to awaken her from her peaceful slumber: when he entered the room, he saw Mikoto lying on his side. He was facing Tamotsu who had rolled onto his back in his sleep. His tiny hands were on either side of his head, curled into fists. He breathed softly, matching the rhythm of Mikoto's breaths.

To the baby's other side was Anna who was sleeping with her hands pillowing her pale white cheek. Her hair was spilled all around her in thick white masses.

This was quite a sight.

Anna and Mikoto were like two protective barriers around the little one. It was very cute. Izumo suppressed a chuckle. It was times like these that his thoughts went back to Tatara to think about how he might have felt and what he might have said and done regarding the actions of Anna and Mikoto.

"_My heart almost stopped for a minute! Anna and King look like mommy and daddy!" _

That was something the lanky fellow might have said.

Which was also kind of true.

Izumo could have left Tamotsu sleeping with them until Maria came, but it wasn't really a good idea to have adults sleep with a child so small.

As adorable as the sight of the baby between the two was, it was still dangerous.

As a bartender, Izumo had picked up certain stories from some parents and it seemed that there was something called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This could happen for various reasons but one of the main causal factors was parents who slept on the same bed as their babies and accidentally rolled over onto the infant and suffocated them.

It was a horrible and traumatizing experience for a parent to have gone through something so awful.

Anna and Mikoto did not know about such things and hence, they didn't mean to do it.

Izumo therefore knelt to Anna's side and reached over her slender female form to gather the sleeping child and the blanket into his arms. Tamotsu was such a sweet baby that he barely stirred when removed from his napping spot. Instead, he leaned heavily onto Izumo's chest. He rested his cheek trustingly against his shoulder and released a sigh.

Since his mouth wasn't closed, he promptly began to drool.

Izumo glanced down and saw it. His eyebrows furrowed but he could do nothing about it. This was a baby after all.

"Chitose's back?" came Mikoto's voice that was gravelly with sleep.

The bartender glanced at him. He nodded.

Mikoto grunted quietly before his eyes fell upon the sleeping princess who was a short distance away from him.

"Brat's afraid of thunder," the red head informed him.

Izumo grinned. "I'll be sure to let his parents know."

Mikoto made quiet noise of assertion before turning his sleepy eyes to the his remaining slumbering companion.

Anna herself was no longer a child. She still retained the same eyes, nose and mouth. But with the way her face had lengthened, her eyes were no longer so huge on her face. Her mouth seemed just a tiny bit fuller and her lips were always pink with a little dent in the middle of the upper one. The baby fat around her cheeks had disappeared she had gradually gained the face of a very pretty young woman rather than that of a cute child.

Her eyelashes were dark, thick and long and her skin was milk. Her hair was alabaster and spilled in lengthy waves over her body which was taller now, with beautiful curves. Anna was still very much like a well crafted doll.

Only she was more of an adult-looking doll now.

Did Mikoto miss Anna's child-like figure?

Only when he felt that she drew his attention in a way that only a red blooded man would look at a female. However, she had a special charm about her when she was a child. It was something that had remained with her even after growing up.

What was it exactly?

Her contrasting personality. She used to be a little adult in a child's body with child-like ways and innocence yet while having the maturity of a woman well beyond her years. Anna was certainly a young woman now but there was still a special air of innocence she had about her that was reminiscent of that of a child's, yet she was mature and still much more mature than a person her age would be expected to be.

He reached out with a long muscular arm to Anna. He filled his arms with her soft, feminine body that seemed to fit almost perfectly against his hard, masculine one.

"Mikoto?" she mumbled his name.

In response, his arms tightened around her and she buried her face his neck, glad to have his warmth and comfort surrounding her.

"Are you still upset?" he questioned.

Anna was aware that he was referring to what happened earlier when he had tied the shirt sleeves around her before burning them.

She shook her head and cuddled herself closer to him. What had happened was something a bit distant from her mind now. Even if Mikoto had been using her as a source of amusement, or _teasing_ her as one might put it, he hadn't done anything to her with ill intentions.

One of Mikoto's hands came up to the back of her head and stroked slowly.

Sleeping together was no longer such a frequent occurrence and the two relished this little time they had to spent in each other's arms.

To listen to each other's breathing.

To hear each other's heartbeats.

And disappear into dreams they shared together in the past where a beloved comrade was still alive.

* * *

Much later, Izumo watched as the sky cleared up and the dark clouds disappeared. Summer thunderstorms were not an unnatural occurrence.

But Izumo had a feeling that another type of storm was brewing. At the meeting with the Gold King, they had been informed that Toshi was set to be executed in November. There would no longer be a put off of another six months. No politician could get in the way now.

They were even informed of their requirement to attend the death sentence. It wasn't because he had any ethical issues regarding the death sentence. There was something else bothering him.

Maybe he ought to feel some sort of relief but something just wasn't sitting well with him.

A storm was _definitely_ brewing. He could feel it in his gut.

He didn't know what kind it was.

He didn't know when it would hit.

But he knew it wasn't related to the weather.

* * *

_**A/N: I was supposed to write about Anna's graduation in this chapter but I wanted to write a little on Tamotsu again. A lot of people seemed to like him so I added him in since I'm not sure when next there would be some serious interaction with him. **_

_**Hope you enjoyed it.**_

_***This chapter had some possible OOCness between Anna and Mikoto for their random silliness. I apologize if it wasn't to your liking. I thought it might be fun to have Mikoto tease Anna a bit. **_

_****Super Junior is a K-pop band. I don't really listen to K-pop but I like one song from them which is 'Mr. Simple'. I didn't really know any Japanese boy bands to use :/**_

_*****The English translation of the lyrics I got for the Edo Lullaby came from Wikipedia. **_

_**Thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and reviewed the story.**_

_**For those who reviewed last time:**_

**magicalnana: It's okay, I understand. Thanks for taking the time to read and review when you can. I appreciate it. Best of luck with school :) I'm glad you liked the Titanic scene :) **

**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: Aw I'm so happy you like Tamotsu! Reisi really did look so handsome without his glasses-a perfect lady killer! Maybe you can start up your own fic with Reisi/OC :) And it's really great you have such an awesome friend. They're really hard to come by :)**

**Indochine: Hi, and thanks so much for your concern. I'm much better now since I'm getting more sleep and just taking things easy for now. I'm glad the chapter made your day a bit better and hope you enjoyed this one as well :) Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate them :) About Seri and Reisi: based on what I read on some tweets from Gora about them, it was said that sometimes she might feel a 'stirring' for him. I agree that she does seem to really respect and care for him. I also think that Seri and Izumo make a really interesting combination! They really do manage to get along despite being from different clans. I think I read somewhere that one of the reasons for this is because they have similar positions in their clans: Vice Captains serving directly under the King and therefore they can relate to each other particularly in that way :) I'm sorry to hear that there isn't a zoo anywhere where you live right now! Zoos are fun for the animals! I hope you're able to visit again someday, especially since you seem to have some really good memories of being there. Childhood memories are really some of the best memories. I'm glad you liked all those scenes, and I hope you enjoyed the extra bit in this chapter Tamotsu :) Thanks for the well wishes concerning my health, I really appreciate them. I'm doing much better now :) Hope you're doing okay as well. Take care :) PS: Did you see the recent art with Seri that came from the Lost King the mobile game? Isn't she wearing a necklace that Izumo had been holding out in another card that was released a couple weeks ago?! Correct me if I'm wrong!**

**xNightDreamerx: People really just love to judge others based on appearance which is just awful! At least you thought it was funny. For me it would have been really awkward and I would have gotten really annoyed. Lol. At least the woman thought your cousin's little sister was cute :) Glad you liked the chapter and Tamotsu :)**

**LadyCassie: It's good that you're offering them some support. It's really hard when someone close to you dies from cancer, not just on the patient but on the family as well. For both the patient and his/her family, every bit of support offered is very much appreciated, whether or not you know them. And I think it's really nice that you're trying to do something for these people even though you don't know them. God bless you :) Tatara's funeral would be really sad but you're right: at least we can look forward to seeing the guys from Homra again. Your birthday will soon be upon us! I can't believe we're already into September!**

**AngelGirl0200: Aw, thank you so much :) I put in some extra Tamotsu with Anna and Mikoto for you. Hope you enjoyed it ;)**

**D: From Kei: *blows kiss* *wink* 'you're welcome!' Lol. Im glad you're keeping up with the story. Hope you're enjoying it :)**

**Wonderland Reminiscence: I'm really pleased that you enjoyed the chapter, including the parts with how people judged them. It would have really been wonderful if the manga had just gone on longer! I like both pairings. I find Seri/Reisi a bit more realistic because they're from the same clan and share the same ideals. However, I also think that Seri and Izumo have lots of potential in a lot more ways than Seri/Reisi. It's so tough to decide! The tweets on Kamamoto and Anna were really nice. I was considering writing a fic based on the ones made on Neko and Mikoto but I decided against it. I would just end up making the story about Anna and Mikoto anyway lol. I did read up on some stuff about the way the Kingdom of Hearts functions, but your additional info really clarified a lot of stuff for me. Thanks :) I was curious about Ace's role because I wondered what sort of twisted personality he has! Season 2 of UtaPri really did have a lot of fanservice. Ren is a cool character too :) I think I'd like to date Kamamoto just to hug his huge belly! I love that guy! He makes me feel warm inside :3 I'd also like to date Izumo. I love his character as well :)**

**princessforeveralone: I hope you enjoyed the parts with Tamotsu in this chapter too :) Let's just say Chitose was sexually harassing his wife. You're an artist? Hey, that's really cool! Well, if you draw it, be sure to let me know! I'd really like to see it :) **

**friedchicken: I'm glad you liked that part of the dialogue, as well as Tamotsu :)**

**LindyLinn: I guess Mikanna it is! Or maybe Sushina? That sounds like sushi hahaha. I'm glad you liked the babysitting and lions part :) Hope you enjoyed the bit of babysitting in this chapter too :) Well, if I tell you what I think, it would probably be the truth and I would really end up spoiling it for you. Sorry :( Hearing from you always makes me glad so don't worry about whether or not you're spicing up your reviews. I'm always interesting in hearing what you have to say in your reviews, no matter how short or long :)**

**FragileBlueButterflies: I'm glad you really liked the chapter and thought it was perfect. I really appreciate that :) We all miss Tatara T.T I'm glad you liked those parts with Anna, Mikoto and Tamotsu and hope you enjoyed them in this chapter too :) That's really great that you're giving Seri and Izumo a chance! The official art with them really did look nice! Thanks for reviewing and hope you liked this chapter as well :)**

_**Thanks for reading and God bless :)**_


	27. Trouble Stirs

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: Chapter's a bit long. Hope it makes up for my slower updates :)_**

**_There's slight M rating for a particular scene in this chapter. I'm not marking it off because it's very brief and not that serious. I'm just giving a forewarning. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 27: Trouble Stirs**_

For some reason, Anna had trouble sleeping on this cold night. Her dreams were strange and difficult to recall.

All she knew for certain was that they were not nice dreams and perhaps it was a blessing that she could not remember them.

The white haired female rubbed her eyes as she walked up the staircase in the dark. Tomorrow she had work early in the morning. She looked forward to it because she could be with her friends.

Anna was still half asleep when she hit nose-first into something hard in front of her. While rubbing her aching facial feature, she wondered where the wall had come from.

Until a pair of familiar strong hands caught her shoulders and steadied her.

"Oi, are you alright?"

Anna blinked and looked up.

Ah, that was Mikoto's pretty red.

She nodded and made a soft noise, indicating that she was.

Mikoto released a quiet breath as he released her.

"Be more careful," he lightly scolded.

"Where is Mikoto going?" Anna queried with a slight tilt of her pretty head.

He replied while walking past her, "The old man wants another meeting with us,"

'Old man' obviously meant the Gold King.

"How come?"

"'Cause he's a pain in the ass," Mikoto grumbled as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his favorite black jacket that had the fur-lined hood.

He paused when he felt a familiar tug on the sleeve.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Anna gripping it. Her head was slightly lowered and she did not look at him despite being two steps higher than him, thus slightly more elevated than he was.

He waited for her to speak.

"It's cold," she explained.

Mikoto's eyebrows rose momentarily.

Well, for her to come forward and say that, it must mean that she really was a bit chilly.

It ought to be expected.

It was early November after all. Winter would be upon them soon. After the Summer heat wave, it was expected that the end of the year would be one of the frostiest they had seen in a long time.

Mikoto released a quiet sigh and turned around. Lifting a hand, he patted her head kindly.

"I'll be back soon," he promised in a gruff tone.

Anna nodded, but was certainly disappointed even if she didn't show it.

He couldn't blame her. She probably wanted a warm cuddle from him which was understandable.

With the economic downturn still going on, people were being laid off all over the place. In Seneca, it was getting harder for Sayuri at the maid cafe because people were demanding higher wages due to an increase in inflation that had unfortunately come with the recession. Nothing was getting cheaper because businesses raises their prices in order to compensate their dwindling profits. This solved nothing because it simply caused people to spend even less, thus further damaging the economy.

For this reason, people had to be laid off and Anna was asked to work more hours as she was one of the few employees who had never demanded higher wages. She had accepted her boss's request and had only come home on weekends recently. She and Mikoto hadn't shared a bit of affection since her coming back because she normally arrived home late at night and went to work early in the morning. They tended to see each other only for meals.

Mikoto took her in his arms and gave her a tight squeeze. Anna returned his hug and sighed in relief at the familiar scent of his lithe body and the warm feel of his arms around her.

"Go to bed now," he ordered softly.

Anna nodded and he released her.

She paused and lifted her head.

A soft kiss on his cheek was what she gave him and her reward was a small smile and another pat on her head.

With that, he turned around and walked out into the bar, leaving her standing there.

* * *

On the way to Izumo's car which was parked outside, the bartender remarked, "I swear, you and Anna aren't even married and you act the role of husband bidding the wife goodbye before heading to work so well,"

Mikoto became irritated.

"Shut up, Izumo."

* * *

Anna returned to bed. Izumo had called Kamamoto and Fujishima to come stay at the bar until Mikoto came back. She was glad. As she grown up in such a way that she was never alone at the bar, being left by herself here was a very unsettling thought to her.

With the knowledge that they were downstairs (probably causing some unintentional trouble) she returned to her bed and closed her eyes.

Dreams poured in of many things that had happened earlier that year.

Several things had happened.

Including her official High School graduation.

* * *

_A few months ago:_

Most people tended to graduate when they were between the ages of seventeen and nineteen.

Anna, unlike most people, was actually sixteen when she collected her High School diploma. For the first time in months, she donned her school uniform that indicated that she was from Seneca High School.

Her red checkered skirt thankfully fell mid-thigh and not any shorter. Apparently all those growth spurts she had over the past couple of years had finally come to a halt.

She wore on a white shirt with a full red blazer over it. Around the collar of her shirt was a ribbon that matched her skirt's material.

Anna opted to tie her hair up on this day into a low ponytail. It was a rather warm June day after all.

A lot of Japanese schools tended to have graduation ceremonies in March. At Seneca, for various reasons, a more Western system was utilized and graduation tended to be in June instead. Anna often suspected that this might have something to do with how many hours students were allowed to work.

They were permitted more working hours than regular Japanese students and perhaps the Western system seemed better suited because of this in order to incorporate more time off to allow their participation in the labor-force.

Anna had spent the night before in Seneca with Akemi because they had work the evening before. Then, they dressed at her apartment to attend the ceremony the following morning. Ironically, Anna, Akemi and Kei had been placed in the same row due to the alphabetical ordering of their surnames: Akemi was 'H', Kei was 'J' and Anna was 'K'.

Apparently, most students seemed to think that Anna had dropped out because she had been absent for the entire school term. There had been gasps when she appeared but Anna paid no mind to them.

Izumo had been the one to attend for Anna. JJ was obviously the one for Kei. Shockingly, Akemi's father had attended her graduation ceremony.

"_Maybe he's changing," Kei had suggested._

_Akemi sneered in response. "Wrong. There are a lot of rich brats in here whose parents know my dad. They will expect him to be here. If he isn't, he's going to look like a really horrible father. He's only here to save face."_

That might have been true because after the ceremony, Christopher Hisoka had disappeared.

Kei threw his arm around Akemi now.

With a kind smile, he told her, "Hey, even if he isn't here, we are. You're _our_ family,"

Akemi's lips turned upward slightly. She was grateful for this comfort her friend was offering.

Anna placed a hand on her shoulder, letting her know that she as well was always here for her. These three friends were not going separate ways quite yet. They were under a contract to work in the maid cafe until the end of August.

As Akemi enjoyed the feel of Kei's warm around her, she recalled a recent incident from when she had spoken to Kei recently:

"_What will you do if you don't get through to go to the University of your choice?"_

"_The university I chose is the best one in Japan for Science and Technology. If I don't get through with that one, I will not go to any other because it's doubtful I will be able to go to Germany without their help. I will continue working in the maid cafe for another year and I'll take the entrance exam again."_

_Akemi nodded. Kei was a rather ambitious young man and a hard worker despite his playful demeanor. _

"_And you, Akemi?"_

_They were sitting outside the maid cafe where the sun was shining brightly on them. _

"_It's tough to get jobs in Japan's entertainment industry when you look like a foreigner. I've only gotten offers to be an extra on set for a few dramas and that's it. But there's still hope. I got a little more attention from the modeling job I did for that airline. Maybe a major agency will take a liking to me."_

_Kei looked thoughtful. _

"_Wouldn't it be easier for you to go back to Europe?"_

_Akemi sighed. "It would be tougher. I would be among people who disliked me both at home and when I went out to get jobs. My stepmother would do everything she could to get in the way of my career and my dad might even force me to do something I don't want. I'm safer here. I have a better chance of doing well on my own in Japan."_

_Kei nodded, understanding. _

"_Besides, I love Japan."_

_Akemi was holding when seemed to be a gold cross in her hands._

"_You carry that around a lot now," he remarked._

_She smiled softly. "My mother left this for me with the gold necklace I always have. I never wore it before because I wondered what sort of cold God would give me such a miserable life. But I have hopes and I have dreams now and my thinking about my life is a lot different now. I believe I can work with Him to achieve what I want."_

_Kei gave a lopsided frown. He probably didn't know how to relate to such spiritual things. After all, he was never one to actually think or seriously acknowledge the spiritual aspect of life. _

"_I'm sure it would all work out," he said to her. He placed his hand on hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. This was one of those odd occasions when Akemi felt like she was spending time with the real Kei._

_Not the crazy teasing bastard who covered up who he really was. _

_Although some of that sadistic side seemed to be a bit genuine._

* * *

Akemi had planned to finally confess to Kei on graduation day.

Unfortunately, she and Anna had just been knocked aside and almost trampled over by Kei's fanclub who hadn't seen him in months. Anna had managed to prevent herself from stumbling but Akemi did fall to her side with a soft gasp.

As Kei tried to calm the crowd of annoying girls, JJ walked over to Akemi.

He held out his hand to her and offered her a kind smile.

"Girls love him a little too much," he told her.

Akemi accepted his hand and he helped her up. She tsked. "They love you too you know. I saw them swooning just now. The only reason they haven't come onto you is because their parents would want to know what the heck they're doing with an older man."

She sighed as she looked over at her male friend wistfully.

So much for confessing.

Kei was trying to unsuccessfully get away from his fangirls. He looked above their heads and saw JJ speaking to his female friend.

Kei frowned. He would prefer to be the one over there with the golden haired girl instead of his brother. He was also quite sure that JJ would very much like to be at the centre of attention amongst these females.

Meanwhile, the Natsume family took Anna aside to speak to her.

"I'd like to say you've come a long way, Anna but you haven't really changed on the inside of the years. Your body has just matured to match your mind," Natsume told her.

Anna accepted her words without offense, for they were true. She had not changed who she was on the inside. She was capable of doing more for herself and could look after herself now. She was no longer a helpless child.

But she was still the same Anna Kushina on the inside. Even her love for Mikoto had never changed.

Haru looked ever the grandfather before her. He patted her head kindly.

"I missed you a lot over this year, Anna-hime. You were the only reasonable companion I had at the dinnertable when these two argued about food."

Anna gave him a tiny smile. "Does Chef still hope Mikoto would drop by?"

Haru chuckled. The Chef had never truly gotten over Mikoto's lack of love for his food and still hoped that he could the serve the red head something that would awe that sour look off his face.

"Always."

Ryosuke's mouth was trembling and he pulled her into his arms and gave her a big hug.

"I'll miss you! You were the cute little princess who came to stay with us! I resented you at first but you're just too adorable!"

"You better not hold onto her too tightly or Mikoto might get upset," Natsume chided her son.

Ryosuke nodded and released Anna.

After a final round of hugs, she turned and hurried over to Izumo who was waiting for her with a smile.

Anna could summarize that she had a good school life. From the Finder's Club in Middle School to the bounty hunting business she had while in High School, Anna could claim that she did not regret ever coming to Seneca.

It had upset her for all the time she had spent away from her clansmen, but this was what had taught her to learn to take care of herself.

Without her clansmen's constant doting upon her, she had learned to look after herself. It was in this aspect she grown up in and it was the one area that she had wanted to improve in.

However, what had truly made her school life enjoyable was her friends-Akemi and Kei. As well as Daisuke, Ryosuke, Haru and Yuki Natsume along with Sayuri and JJ at the maid cafe.

These were the people who had an impact on her life in various ways: Yuki Natsume was the older female figure-a mother of a sort to her. Haru was like a grandfather, Ryosuke was like a big brother.

Daisuke was like a favorite uncle.

Then there was Sayuri at the maid cafe who was just like a big sister. She always gave the girls advice and encouraged them when they seemed to be down.

JJ who was such a clown.

And Akemi and Kei.

Akemi who was a rare beauty-gorgeous on the outside, otaku on the inside. She had come across to Anna as being a bully when they had first met in Middle School but she had turned out to be Anna's best friend.

And then there was Kei. Kei who resembled Tatara greatly, whose cheerfulness and enthusiasm and his smile, oh his _smile_! So much like Tatara!

Yet, there was something else about him that made him very much _not_ like Tatara. He could be sweet and kind, or he could be cruel and sadistic-mainly toward Akemi. He was a flirt and he loved bantering with Akemi.

Tatara wouldn't blatantly argue with someone and he would have been very nice to the blue eyed girl.

Kei, who Anna had stumbled upon, had come to be a true friend to her.

And Anna was happy. She was glad that she had such people in her life.

Finally graduating was making her a bit nostalgic. Once upon a time she would have given anything to just get out Seneca and go back home, and back to Mikoto's side where she would feel true relief.

Still, this place was where she had many fond memories of special people in her life.

Seneca had contributed a lot to her growth. She had learned aikido, archery and had even managed to resume ballet in this school.

Even if she had never laughed out loud or shouted from the rooftops like several other students, she had enjoyed her school life. It had finally come to an end. She could return to Shizume City without the burden of studying in a Town that was all the way out in the mountains.

But she was going to miss this place.

As Anna headed out the school gate with Izumo, someone called out to her.

She turned around and saw her friends standing there.

Kei had his hands shoved into the pockets of the trousers of his school uniform. Akemi had a hand lifted which she waved happily to Anna.

The white haired girl glanced up at Izumo. He nodded, letting her know that it was alright to go to them.

She hurried across the pair.

Akemi smiled at her beautifully. Her blue eyes twinkled cheerfully.

"We're still working together so it's not the end of us," she said.

"Our school years are over but we'll be together. Friends always-no matter what," Kei added.

Anna managed a very small beam.

"Yes," she affirmed. "friends _always_."

* * *

For most students, graduation meant leaving High School, becoming a proper adult and getting a new focus in life.

For Anna, who was already an adult on the inside and whose focus in life was built around being the eyes of the Red Clan, graduation didn't have the same meaning for her. It did mean new possibilities for her, but she really just wanted to be among those she loved the most.

As she stepped out of the school-gates, to her surprise, she saw a set of familiar faces with pretty red.

There stood a short fellow with a skateboard and a proud grin. Beside him was a yellow haired young man who seemed to be fast losing weight.

Yata and Kamamoto.

"Anna, you've finally graduated!" Yata exclaimed and hurried over to her excitedly.

He look her hands between his own and tugged her in the direction of the car.

Kamamoto followed with a wide grin. Patting her head as they hurried along, he said to her. "Everyone's coming over to celebrate today!"

Before could reply, she saw dozens of red flower petals flying around her. Her mouth open slightly and her eyes widened in awe as the petals swirled around with the wind.

She lifted her hands as they cascaded downward and she caught a few in her hand. Slowly, they settled and Anna saw around her the rest of her clansmen with silly, happy smiles on their faces.

Except for Bando. He had an arm covering his eyes as he sobbed.

"There, there, San-chan! No need to get all teary because Anna's all grown up now!" Shouhei tried to soothe him.

"I'm not crying and I don't need your comfort!" Bando snapped although there was a clear trail of snot running out of his nose.

Everyone laughed.

"Congratulations, Anna! We're all proud of you," Izumo said behind her.

She glanced around at him and he was smiling warmly. Her guardian placed a warm hand on her shoulder.

Anna lowered her head slightly. The red petals stood out brightly on the white of her hair. Her cheeks matched their color as she blushed.

"Everyone...thank you," she said quietly.

They all continued smiled and proceeded to give her hugs.

Anna received their warm affection but she wondered where Mikoto was. Everyone was here except her beloved King himself.

Then again, he didn't seem like the type to come to events such as graduations. She supposed that he might be at home.

"Tatara would have been really happy," Kamamoto happened to mentioned. There was a thread of sadness in his voice.

"Yes, he would have been but we won't become disheartened by this. Tatara would have wanted for us all to celebrate this day with happiness," Izumo told them firmly.

The others cheered in agreement.

Izumo led Anna to the car and Eric opened the backdoor for her.

Still disappointed that Mikoto had not come, Anna slid inside. She had managed to pretend that it wasn't a big deal that he wasn't here but once the door shut, her mouth formed into a tiny frown.

"Hey," came a familiar gruff voice.

Anna stiffened and her head spun around to look at the person at her side.

It was Mikoto himself. He was calmly smoking a cigarette. He wasn't looking at her either.

"Mikoto?" she said his name.

In response, something was held out to her.

To her shock, it was a huge bouquet of red flowers was in front of her.

Anna accepted them slowly and held the flowers to her chest. Her wide eyes remained on Mikoto while Izumo entered into the driver's side. Everyone else had come with their own vehicles.

"I thought...Mikoto was not coming," she said softly.

Mikoto snorted. "Izumo dragged me out of bed and told me I had to shower. Then he gave me these flowers to give to you."

"You're too honest," Izumo snapped at Mikoto.

Didn't the idiot know how to lie in order to be considerate about Anna's feelings?

However, Anna was not at all upset over his admission. After all, the fact that he actually showed up spoke volumes about his actions.

In other words, if he truly didn't want to come, he wouldn't have.

She hugged the flowers to her and her mouth formed into a tiny smile.

Mikoto had noticed that she tended to curve her mouth upward more frequently now. This pleased him.

He patted her head kindly.

At long last, she was out of school.

* * *

Seneca had still not ended for the trio. Anna had enrolled into the local University in Shizume City to do an online degree. Sayuri had practically begged her to come back and work in the maid cafe.

She decided that she would split her time between Seneca and Homra. She liked her job at the maid cafe and it was even better since her friends were still there.

Kei hadn't left either because on the day for the entrance exam for the university he had wanted to attend, he was very sick thanks to his anemia. He still had dragged himself off to do the exam but the consequence was that he did not make it.

Although he could have gone elsewhere, he refused, stating that this was where he wanted to go.

Akemi was slowly getting through with more modeling jobs. She decided to wait a year and see if a major agency would accept her and by then they would enroll themselves into a University and pay for her tuition to do Theatre Arts.

If not, she would find some other means of achieving her dreams.

Life was good in general. She only hoped that the economy would pick so that her work hours would be lessened.

She did miss Mikoto and her clansmen when she didn't see them during the week.

* * *

_Presently:_

Anna was awakened when she felt Mikoto's nose in her hair.

She released a soft sigh and slowly opened her eyes. Upon turning her head, she caught sight of his pretty red and lifted her hand, slowly soothing it over his cheek.

It was slightly rough.

Apparently his facial hair had started to grow out and he would probably need to shave.

"Mikoto," she murmured his name sleepily.

The response was the click of the lamp of her nightstand which flooded her room with light. She squinted and blinked a few times in order to get her eyes to adjust. When they did, she looked at Mikoto.

He seemed tired, judging by the lines under his eyes.

He had removed his jacket already and it was slung over the chair in her room.

Her king was sitting beside her now in his white t-shirt and jeans.

"Anna, I want you to listen to me," he said.

Mikoto sounded serious so she gave him her full attention.

"You will stay home today," he informed her.

Anna blinked and sat up. This was the first time he had ever asked her to do such a thing.

It was worrying.

"Does this have something to do with the meeting you had with the Gold King?"

She smelled cigarette smoke and peered over his shoulder to see he had one of his favorite cancerous sticks between his fingers.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Mikoto-"

"Go to sleep," he cut her off.

"I have to call my boss-"

"Natsume will take care of it."

Anna blinked in surprise.

Even though this was one small thing, it slowly dawned on her just how much control Mikoto could exercise over her if he just tried.

And just how much freedom he actually gave to her.

Her job and her life in Seneca was very separate from her life in Homra. Yet, Mikoto was very easily capable of intervening into it.

He could make her quit her job if he tried. All he had to do was make one phone-call.

Or, he could simply tell her to do so.

Thankfully, that wasn't what he was asking for. She liked working in the maid cafe, mainly because of her friends.

"Mikoto..." her softly spoken words trailed off when Mikoto lifted a hand and almost tenderly brushed her cheek with the knuckle of his index finger.

"Don't ask anymore questions," he ordered her quietly.

Anna lowered her head and nodded. He probably had a reason for saving all of this for later. Judging by the sleepy expression on his face, he probably wanted to rest.

"Your skin feels like ice," he murmured as his hand shifted and pressed against her forehead.

"I'm cold," she explained.

Mikoto recalled her mentioning that earlier.

He let out a heavy sigh.

"I'll stay with you," he promised.

Anna nodded once more. She didn't say it or show it but Mikoto knew she was happy about this. He was kind of like a hot water bottle to her anyway.

The King paused when he felt Anna's hands gently touch his shoulders.

"Anna?"

"Mikoto shouldn't wear his necklaces to bed," she told him.

He nodded and observed as her white hands which were adorned with slender, pale fingers, reached behind his neck and undid the clasp of his necklace. It dropped into her palm and she set it aside.

Then, she reached out for his bolo tie. She gently drew it over his head and set aside as well. Throughout these procedures, she was very much aware of Mikoto's silent gaze on her.

When she was finished, she lifted her face to look at his handsome one.

Without thinking, she lightly trailed her fingers along his lightly forested cheek again.

"Mikoto needs to shave," she murmured softly.

He caught her hand in his, forcing it to stop. Mikoto removed her hand but kept it clasped in his own so that he could press his warm lips against the tips of her fingers which still tingled from the touch of his beard-roughened face.

"Later," he told her and used his free arm to wrap around her and draw her against his hard, heated body.

Anna almost sighed with pleasure as the coldness began to melt away from her form.

She would have had it not been for Mikoto's lips which were descending to her.

Was he going to kiss her?!

No, he wasn't it seemed.

Because his mouth touched her temple instead.

Her disappointment was small because even if she didn't get his mouth on hers, she got the rest of him when he pressed her into the bed with the weight of his body.

His face remained buried into the side of her head as he nuzzled at his favorite spot.

Anna released a soft breath, and fisted her hands into the material of his soft shirt.

This sweet affection from Mikoto was not something she would ever get tired of. She did want more from him.

A lot more.

But she would have to wait for that.

Thankfully, sleep began to take hold of her before any other arousing emotions could stir within her.

* * *

Mikoto had cuddled Anna against him, ensuring that she was warm and safe in his arms. He had dozed off for about an hour when Anna's PDA began to vibrate.

He grasped it and saw that her alarm was about to go off. Quickly, he switched it off before it began to ring.

What a nuisance these things were.

He did have his own alarm.

It wasn't exactly a phone or a clock.

It was a person: Izumo.

Whether or not Mikoto liked it, if he was required to get up at a certain time, the bartender would call Mikoto and ensure that he woke up.

He was a damned mother hen.

The King supposed he ought to be grateful.

But he did love sleeping quite a lot. Leaving its loving embrace often got him annoyed.

He was glad that Anna hadn't awakened. She was snuggled at his side with her face lying on his hard chest.

She was not disturbed in any way by the alarm because she tended to sleep like a baby with Mikoto. He bent his face slightly and kissed the top of her white hair.

Then, while tightening his hold on her with one arm, he shifted the other one to the back of his head. Anna stirred only slightly with his movements and proceeded to burrow against him more while her little white toes curled slightly like a sleepy little animal's.

Finally, she began to relax and fall into a deeper mode of sleep once more.

* * *

When Anna woke up later, she found herself hugging Lion-O. The spot beside her was still warm which meant Mikoto must have left not too long ago.

Setting the plushie aside, she decided to have a bath before going in search of him.

"Anna, you've come just in time," Izumo said when she entered the living room. She had pulled on a long sleeved red dress along with her white stockings and shoes.

She was surprised to see Yuki Natsume and her husband, Haru sitting on one of the couches. Izumo was standing to the side while smoking a cigarette.

What made her even more curious was the fact that Maria, Chitose and Tamotsu were here as well. It was eight in the morning. Normally, either of the two went to work while one stayed home with the baby.

Why would they both be here when when one of them should be out?

Tamotsu was now nearly eleven months old. He was still a chubby little sweetheart with rosy cheeks and a dimpled smile.

However, he wasn't _that_ much of a little fatty anymore as with growth he had actually grown into his flesh. He was able to hold his bottle now and was fast learning how to walk. He also starting to develop speech patterns although his favorite word to his parents right now was '_nuh_' which, when translated, meant 'no'.

His hair had grown out into the rich, thick black texture his mother had and the sharpness of the eyes he had inherited from his father had never faded away.

He made a happy sound at Anna's appearance.

"Awa!" he called her and waved his tiny hand at her.

Anna's face softened at the sight of the baby who was holding onto the couch beside his mother in order to prop himself up.

Chitose sat next to her while Mikoto was beside him.

The redhead had glanced at her to acknowledge her presence before his eyes turned on Izumo.

"You better explain," he said to his second in command.

The bartender nodded.

"Have a seat, Anna," he suggested.

She shook her head, preferring to stand.

Izumo shrugged but carried on.

"We went to visit the Gold King last night. He had emergency meeting with the rest of Kings because of the Rise."

Everyone remained silent as they waited for him to carry on speaking.

"We got a some info on some research Toshi did."

Anna's eyes widened. As did Chitose's and Maria's. Only Tamotsu remained oblivious to it all as he lay his head against his mother's chest and stuck his thumb in his mouth. He did sense that the atmosphere had become more tense but he was only a baby.

The only thing he understood was that perhaps he ought to be a little quiet.

Izumo went on to explain with his eyes specifically on Anna now, "It seems that Toshi was briefly affiliated with Mizuchi."

Anna's mouth formed into a line.

_Mizuchi Koushi_.

The man who had her parents murdered.

He tortured her as a child because of his regard for as nothing more than an experiment who would become his puppet King.

The horrible man who sometimes haunted her dreams to this day.

"Perhaps you would like to sit down now?" Izumo suggested.

She nodded.

Mikoto stood up and ushered her into his vacated place. Upon sight of her being closer, Tamotsu lifted his head from his mother and smiled around his thumb at her.

Seeing her return a very small smile for his sake, he became satisfied and replaced his head.

Anna's face became blank again and looked to Izumo now.

However, it was Mikoto who spoke, "You once asked if becoming a strain was genetic,"

Anna turned her eyes to him and blinked, clearly surprised. She had spoken to him about this that time she had relived the memory of her parents in a dream when her mother had been pregnant.

Yet another life Mizuchi had been responsible for destroying: her unborn brother's.

Anna nodded in acknowledgement to her King's words.

"It seems that Mizuchi was doing some research on the likelihood of a person becoming a strain. He looked at various causal factors which contributed to it. The theory has always been that strains were possibly those who could have become Kings but were rejected in the end by the Slate. Most people it seems are born as strains, however, this does not necessarily mean that it is something in their blood like a particular blood type that has them specifically chosen. Despite this, it has been questioned about whether or not some people carry a specific gene that increases their likelihood of becoming a strain," Izumo told her.

"Didn't others research this before?" Anna questioned.

"Weissman was at the meeting. He admitted that he wondered if genetics or heredity played a role in the choosing of _Kings_. At the time of his research, he had not given a lot of attention to strains. He found very little evidence of it and therefore eventually abandoned the idea. However, other researchers with the Gold King looked into it-including Mizuchi. There were very slim possibilities and therefore he also abandoned the research in favor of other areas to study."

'Other areas of study' probably referred to his focus on torturing strains for the purpose of achieving his selfish goals.

Izumo added, "Even with there being such little support for this theory, Toshi for some reason developed an interest in it. What makes it more incomprehensible is that instead of looking at ancestry for links in order to see if there was a specific gene present in the strains, he decided to look for links between _siblings_. Genes are passed on through parents, not from sibling to sibling. What can you find out if you look at siblings instead other than a series of common genes?"

Anna tilted her head to the side. "Wouldn't it have made sense if he was looking for a specific gene that was common to both parents and children?"

Yuki Natsume replied, "It is possible but it's doubtful. From what Mizuchi told us, it seems that he was specific on studying siblings. He never gave any indication of wanting to have to look at a special or specific type of gene. Toshi never said what inspired him to want to research connections between siblings rather than parents. It's strange."

She glanced at Izumo, signaling that he ought to continue his explanation.

"Another reason for why it still doesn't make any sense is because although siblings had actually been born as strains, these were very rare and they were usually from sets of twins. This also meant that there was never a large pool of test subjects to run studies on."

Anna remained silent but her heart began to beat faster.

"Doesn't the fact that there was a small amount of people to test on also mean that a person's genes doesn't really contribute to them becoming a strain?" Chitose pointed out.

"You're right. Very correct," Natsume Yuki suddenly put in. "and the fact that he would _still_ want to carry out research despite there being little evidence to support his theories is a mystery to us. It's strange."

Izumo began to speak again.

"It seems that Toshi found out that Mizuchi was once interested in genetic factors. He approached Mizuchi eventually and by that time he had already proposed several hypotheses. One of the paths he was going to suggest be taken was that they research the siblings of strains from the womb."

Anna swallowed hard. Her eyes lifted to Mikoto's.

In response, he lay a heavy hand on her head and decided that he would take it from here, "He already knew that Mizuchi was using you for his experiments. Toshi developed his own interest in you without telling the bastard anything."

Mikoto removed his hand as his eyes narrowed.

His temper was spiking now. When it came to things concerning Anna, especially if she was in danger or if someone tried to hurt her, Mikoto became much more easily aggravated than normal.

Izumo had to continue speaking from here. Perhaps he sensed that Mikoto would probably break something if he continued talking.

"We think Toshi's intrigue might be because you are a rare one, Anna. Your power is so unique that you could have possibly become a King. You would have done it without the Dresden Slate making that choice. Normally it is the Slate that chooses, not people who do so. Mizuchi must have confided certain things about you with Toshi to make him suddenly take such an interest in you. Anna, while he was busy focusing on you, Toshi did background checks on your parents. He delved into their medical records and found out that your mother was pregnant."

Anna's normally white skin seemed to have become even paler. Her mouth remained tightly shut.

"He was going to come forward his theories to Mizuchi so that they could both use your mother and you to do some research on your unborn sibling. Depending on how things went, he might have started using them as well for experimentation to see if there was something unique in your genetics specifically if there was evidence to show that the baby was going to be a strain. Unfortunately, the plan had already been set for the accident to happen. Your parents died before Mizuchi found out the plans Toshi was going to propose."

Mikoto frowned.

Anna had become very still.

Like a mannequin.

"Get her something to drink," he ordered Izumo.

"No," Anna finally spoke.

Many things were running through her mind. The happy memories of her childhood that soon turned to ash thanks to that bastard who experimented on her and destroyed her family.

"Anna," Mikoto said her name warningly.

She took one his hands between hers and squeezed it, as if deriving some comfort that way. "I want to hear more...I _need_ to hear more," she said.

Mikoto observed her for a moment longer.

Then sighed and moved his hand from between hers. He used it to stroke her cheek gently before returning it to his side.

He looked at Izumo and nodded, silently letting him know that he ought to continue.

The bartender carried out his king's orders.

"When Toshi found out what Mizuchi did, he got angry because this had been something he wanted to very much do. You and your unborn sibling were perfect test subjects and you were already being used. Mizuchi had ruined Toshi's plans. Contact between them was cut off after that."

"How did you find out about this?" Anna asked carefully.

"It seems that they had considered executing Mizuchi as well on the grounds of the violation of the rights of strains. His acts were considered so horrible that many thought he deserved the death penalty. For a man who didn't have a problem killing others, he certainly had a problem being killed himself."

Anna remained silent.

Izumo smiled, a bit bitterly, "He had several counts of violation of human rights against him. They were only able to sort out everything this year because there many court proceedings required to get it all done. He did hurt a lot of people and each person was given the privilege of their own trial against him. The courts gave him the death penalty but then word got around through the grape vine to him that they were going to execute Toshi too and that he had tried to hurt you as well. He made a deal with the Gold King that he not be executed in returned for him spilling the beans on what he knew."

"What did he get in return?" Anna asked.

"He'll remain locked up. His confessions only removed him from the death penalty."

It was a relief that the deal hadn't included him gaining any freedom of any sort.

"Then the question is, is whether or not becoming a strain can be genetic," Anna said quietly.

This had to be the reason why Chitose was here with his wife and son.

Izumo nodded. He cast his eyes on the woman who had the baby in her arms.

"Tamotsu is a strain, isn't he?"

Maria was silent for a moment. They were perfect test subjects for anyone who wanted to carry on the research like Toshi's for they were evidence to support his theory he seemed to want to prove. Although Toshi might be more interested in connections between siblings, there was no way an ambitious man like himself-or any other mad scientist out there-would pass up the opportunity to study Maria and Tamotsu. It could still be purely coincidental that Maria was a strain and that her child was one too but that just made them all the more feasible for either proving or disproving the topic.

"I can't say for sure. I don't want to acknowledge it either because I'm afraid of what will happen to him, what the Blue Clan will do...but Anna did hint at it."

Anna nodded.

The boy _was_ a strain.

"Tamotsu is the son of my clansman. No one outside his family has any jurisdiction over him except me as long as Chitose keeps it that way," Mikoto said calmly.

Maria's eyes widened with hope.

"So they won't take him away?"

"Not until he turns eighteen and they won't have anything on him as long as he keeps out of trouble. The only time the Blue Clan will intervene is if they see or if they get word about his power."

Maria frowned. "Then I will have to formally register him with them but will they try to get him away from us?"

She herself was a strain but she only had a vague idea of what really went on if a strain was an offspring of a clansmen. When she was little, she had been shunned by her family because of her power but had been regulated by the Blue Clan. Her family had never fussed over their intervention into her life.

She had been regarded as a monster to them, and many more had considered her as such.

Even Chitose did sometimes.

But not because of her power.

It was because of her temper which, even she had to admit, was destructive.

She was glad that he loved her despite it.

The point was that she wanted her son to be loved and she wanted no one to get in the way of the life she and Chitose had built together with him.

"As long as he isn't harmful. If they do try to get him from you, we will intervene. There are laws that will not dare step over if we protect you," Izumo answered.

Maria breathed a sigh of relief.

Chitose tickled his son. The child let out a gurgle of laughter. His father gave him a warm smile before becoming serious and speaking again, "Maria is a strain and if Tamotsu is one too, do you think he's danger? Toshi is going to get executed, isn't he?"

Chitose had remembered when his wife was pregnant that Anna had questioned Maria about her feelings toward her baby if he was a strain. The brown haired man hadn't paid much mind to it because like his wife, the power of their child didn't matter as much as him having a happy, secure life where he would be surrounded by warmth and tenderness.

The current confirmation that his child was truly a strain only served to worry him about the little one's future.

"That's the problem, Chitose, we don't know for sure what's going on until Toshi is truly dead. We didn't find all the information on him and he's still keeping silent about it all. Not only that, there has been another issue. One that happened the first time the Rise came into play."

Anna gave Izumo her full attention now.

He looked directly at her.

"We don't know if it's related or not, but between January of this year to now, a few strains have gone missing. They are not as much as compared to when all the kidnappings occurred five and a half years ago but they each have very unique powers."

Anna opened the folder.

There were profiles of the strains who had gone missing. Most of them had sensory abilities, some of which were a bit similar to Anna's.

There was another one who had the ability to cast special illusions which was somewhat like Neko's.

These were all classed as very rare types of power.

"You think this is related to the Rise?" Chitose asked as he peered into the folder on Anna's lap.

"We don't know but there are precautions we must take. No one knows right now that Tamotsu is a strain. We wouldn't have even known had it not been for Anna who told you. She mentioned this to Mikoto who took this into consideration during the meeting with the Gold King last night. We want to keep all of this silent for his protection but we are concerned about anyone finding out. There's no telling when he could display his powers."

The Red Clan was not full of people who thirsted after a wide range of knowledge to serve some power-hungry ideals. They were generally simple, laid back people who loved having fun. Hence, they didn't really see a reason to want to divulge into the question about strains and genetics. It was too annoying for people who saw life in a very different way.

As such, they would keep Chitose's family safe without there being any repercussions of there also being a mad scientist in their clan who wanted to use Maria and Tamotsu as test subjects for themselves.

Chitose frowned. His son was leaning over his mother's arm so that he could hug his daddy's shoulder and bite his new baby teeth into the material of his shirt.

Maria tugged him away.

"Then what are you suggesting, Kusanagi-san?"

In response, Izumo looked over at Yuki Natsume who nodded and gave her attention to the small family before her.

"From what I understand, the economic downturn has been pretty bad in Shizume City. Everyone's being laid off and inflation is through the roof," Natsume remarked.

"It has been. Both Maria and I are struggling to find work. If it's just us, it isn't so bad but when there's a child to consider..."

"You want to give him the best," Natsume finished off with a smile.

She placed a folder on the table in between the two couches. She slid it over to him.

Chitose hesitated before accepting it. However, he finally picked it up and opened it.

His eyes widened.

"This is a job application," he stated.

Natsume nodded. She glanced at her husband and it was his turn to talk now, "Last week, my head of security got into a serious accident and he won't be back for several months. We need someone and we only take in people from our clan. We asked Mikoto to recommend someone. He chose you,"

"It would also be safer in Seneca for you and you yourself would be monitoring the security of the area. Mikoto said that you were the best choice for this," Natsume informed him.

Chitose's was clearly stunnned to hear the high regard his King had given to him.

In fact, his brown eyes reflected stars that were similar to the sickening adoration Yata tended to give the king.

"R-Really? You think _I'm_ most suitable for this job?!"

Mikoto grunted. "Aren't you good enough?"

Chitose's smile warmed. He turned his attention to the Natsume's who were beaming kindly.

"If you look through the contents of the file, you'll see all the job requirements and duties. You'll also see that there's a starting salary listed as well. Chitose, the only problem is that you will have to move to Seneca for the duration of your contract," Yuki Natsume informed him.

That made him pause.

He glanced at his wife who was cuddling their child who had become sleepy suddenly.

Chitose was well aware that he needed this job for the sake of his family. Things had gotten tough recently and if they weren't careful, they might end up on welfare. The starting salary was pretty damned good and a lot more than he had ever earned before.

This was an opportunity he couldn't let slide.

"I wouldn't recommend you if I thought you were useless," Mikoto said to him.

"It's also temporary, isn't it?" Maria added, speaking to the older female in the room.

Natsume nodded.

"Yes. We don't know if my last head will be back or not, or even when. But Chitose will have this job on contract for six months. Depending on how things go, maybe we will extend it."

"Seneca is only a half hour away," Anna reminded him.

"You will be able to see Tamotsu whenever you want," Maria said with a smile. She recalled that Anna worked in Seneca as well and that she sometimes spent the night there as well.

The girl nodded. She was happy about that.

Chitose suddenly closed the file and calmly lay it on the table.

"Chitose?" Izumo said his name, surprised at his clansman's sudden change of mood. It was like he was thinking very deeply about something.

The brown haired man asked quietly, "What about Anna?"

Indeed, his son was a worrying case because he was just a baby.

Yet, Anna's life was in danger, wasn't it? They said it was possible themselves when they mentioned that strains were being targeted again. There was little evidence to suggest that it was connected to the Rise but they were being cautious.

Anna had remained very silent through it all.

However, if she was feeling anything as she had five and a half years ago, she was probably very scared.

And she truly was.

Her mind was replaying the events that had happened those years ago.

It had been a dark and terrible time for strains. Mikoto's precautions had ensured her safety but it hadn't been easy for her either. She had once more been removed from the people who had become her family. She had also been attacked at one point and Izumo had been wounded. Mikoto's sword hadn't healed properly at that time and was threatening to fall. Even Maria had gotten abducted and almost sexually assaulted and the Silver King's Himmelreich had been attacked. To the end, it had been Anna and Neko who had intervened to put a stop to everything.

Even if she had good times at Seneca that she could now appreciate, it had been a terrible ordeal for the young girl who had grieved for her makeshift family of rough, wild men.

Meanwhile, Mikoto observed her.

As doll-like as she might seem, he was very much aware that there was a lot going on in that pretty head of hers.

"I want to speak to Anna alone," Mikoto said softly. His voice startled her out of her daze. She glanced up at him.

Everyone nodded.

Natsume and Haru headed into the bar, followed by Chitose and his family and finally, Izumo. Anna watched them go. When the door shut behind her guardian, she turned her eyes to her lap where the file with all the information on the strains was. It was like she had been taken back to that time in the late part of her childhood when the most fearful thing for her was not just being attacked by the Rise, but also to be removed from Mikoto's side.

Mikoto leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his thick red hair. He released a heavy breath before removing the cigarette from between his lips.

"You have two options," he told her.

Anna did not look at him but he knew she was listening.

"You can stay here for good. Quit your job. You can't go out for anything and you will have to remain like this until Toshi has been confirmed as dead. It will be for a month."

Mikoto waited for her to speak but she did not.

Suppressing another sigh, he continued, "The other option is that you can _keep_ your job and stay in Seneca-with the Natsume family. You will be taken to and from work and you will be allowed to return home on weekends. One of us will bring you and take you wherever you need to go. Is that clear?"

She nodded.

Her silence was getting him annoyed. He walked over to her and caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger. He forced her head up so that she would look at him.

With golden eyes gleaming at her, he warned her, "If you don't choose,_ I_ will choose for you."

He was quite capable of doing so. He could take charge of her entire life if he wanted to, but he was considerate of her feelings and let her do as she pleased most of the time.

But when pushed to it, he would exert his power and influence.

And he would only do so if necessary.

"What would Mikoto choose for me?" she asked when he released her.

If her question surprised him, he did not show it.

He shrugged after blowing out a puff of smoke.

"Whichever seems better."

"You want me to stay in Seneca," she stated.

He nodded. "For your sake. I can't picture you wanting to be locked up in here for a month. In Seneca you'll be able to come home on weekends, keep your job and see your friends. Isn't that better?"

Anna looked away from him.

"I'll be away from _you_."

Her words were met with a long silence. She heard the thud of his boots and saw that he had turned away.

"'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'," he quoted softly.

Anna was surprised that he would use those words. He glanced back at her and recognized the puzzled look in her eyes.

"I do read," he told her, "...sometimes," he added in an afterthought as he was not quite certain was the last time he actually picked up a book.

Anna stood up from the couch and walked over to him. Her head was lowered as she spoke quietly, "What if I said I wanted to remain locked up here with you?"

Mikoto took hold of a strand of her white hair between his fingers. He calmly stroked it as he replied, "Then I would tell you that I won't be here often. The old man has already gathered all of us to do more investigation,"

Anna lifted her face now. Her wide grey eyes that reflected red whispered, "Isn't this a repeat of five years ago?"

Mikoto dropped her hair.

Then, a very serious look came to his eyes. His hand caught her shoulder abruptly and she gasped when he pinned her against the wall using his own body.

His thigh was deliberately wedged between hers and his belt buckle pressed hard into the soft skin of her stomach through their clothing. One of his hands was placed on the wall beside her head while the other still gripped her arm tightly.

"If this is a repeat of five years ago, _brat_, then I don't want you putting yourself in danger. I don't care what visions you have. Stay the hell out of trouble," he growled.

Was it possible for anyone to look so gorgeous when angry?

Because Mikoto certainly did.

His hair hadn't been combed today and therefore it was in its natural downward style. He also hadn't quite shaved yet, thus looking ruggedly handsome in her eyes.

"Mikoto..."

He shifted his hand from her shoulder in order to take the porcelain skin of her cheek between his fingers.

"I mean, you _urchin_. If you disobey me, I won't hesitate to beat you within an inch of your life," he threatened.

Anna found herself giving him a very tiny smile despite his warning. He scowled at her, wondering why she was being so pleasant.

For that which he took as stubbornness on her part, he pinched her hard. She lost her smile and whimpered in pain.

"Why are you so happy?" he demanded when he dropped his hand.

Anna placed her hand on the red mark he had caused to her skin.

"Because I would willing risk the consequences of disobeying you if a repeat of five years ago was to happen," she answered.

Mikoto gave her a good hard glare for her words before he finally sighed and brushed her hand aside from her face.

He lowered his head and nuzzled her cheek where the mark was.

This _brat_.

Anna felt his unshaven face softly graze her own. It burned somewhat but she did not mind. She was just wanted Mikoto's affection right now.

Her hands came to the white material of his shirt and gripped it tightly. She released sigh of contentment when his arms went around her waist and embraced her against his rock hard, warm body.

She thought about how much she loved this man as she lay her cheek trustingly against his shoulder. Since she was a little girl, he had been her true source of comfort. When she needed warmth, all she had to do was sit next to him and the red of his power that he had given her would react to him and ease away the coldness from her body.

She lifted her head moved her hands to his shoulders and used to them as an anchor to prop herself up so that she could kiss his cheek.

Before she could properly draw back, he took hold of her upper arms, stopping her from lowering down to the flat of her feet again.

Their eyes met and held for a very long moment until Mikoto lowered his face to hers. He kissed her cheek in reply to her own and then moved to rub his nose into her hair.

Anna was feeling warmer in his arms.

The atmosphere around them was slowly growing sweeter, kinder...and perhaps a bit more heated. This heat seemed to come up in slow tendrils around them, hugging them both and pressing them more into each other.

Mikoto's thigh was still in between hers and she was slowly becoming more aware of it. Against her stomach, he-that part of him that indicated that he was a man-was growing hotter. She could feel it through their clothing.

Although she may not be very well acquainted with the male organ, she did have a small bit of experience with it thanks to Mikoto so she had an idea that he was gradually growing aroused.

She had to stop this, right? Mikoto had already told her to stop him if anything like this should occur.

But it was so _hard_.

So hard to restrain herself from wanting him.

From lusting him.

To want his body pressed against hers, skin to skin, flesh to flesh.

She shifted her head so that their foreheads were pressed against each other. She wanted his mouth on hers.

Badly.

She wanted his tongue against hers.

Desperately.

She wanted to taste him, to touch him.

She wanted to him to make her burn.

And make her a living flame in his arms.

His breath was coming hotly against her and her grip on his shoulders tightened.

His mouth was mere centimeters away from hers.

Their breathing was coming in short pants. Their eyes never left each other's.

Mikoto could almost hear the sound of chains rattling in his mind. He could feel like something was breaking loose.

Yet all he could see, all he wanted was to claim Anna's mouth against his and slowly strip her naked before making her his own.

"Mikoto," she whispered his name.

Her voice was uncharacteristically thick.

That was desire in her.

She wanted _him_.

Just as he wanted her.

"Anna," he said her name.

And abruptly he removed his head from hers and shifted it so that he could kiss the underside of her chin.

He gently lowered her to her feet and within mere seconds, the heady atmosphere dissipated. So quickly it occurred that Anna might have thought she had imagined it.

"Mikoto?" she voiced his name, confused.

He pulled out another cigarette.

"Try to keep out of trouble, Anna."

Ah, they were back to 'normal' mode now.

Going along with it, she asked, "Will I have to stay in Seneca until Toshi is executed?"

"We'll see how things go," Mikoto replied.

* * *

A long time ago, she had sat down in a car with Mikoto and Natsume Yuki. She had been eleven years old and on her way to the place where she would attend Middle School.

She hadn't wanted to go.

Neither had her clansmen wanted her to leave.

There had been so many opportunities waiting for her there and yet, they were all meaningless if it meant that she was away from her beloved Mikoto and her precious people in Homra.

Now, a little more than five years later, she had graduated from High School and was on her way _back_ to the place where Mikoto had first left her in Seneca. This time, there wouldn't be so many restrictions.

Mikoto was trying to conduct things in such a way that he would safeguard her but not completely restrict her. As a man who valued freedom himself, he would not deliberately imprison her.

She was sitting beside him in the car that was taking them to the Natsume household. It wouldn't be so bad this time around. She would be able to freely contact her loved ones this time. She would be able to go see them on weekends. It would be similar to how things were in Middle School after they had captured Toshi.

Only this time, she was older, she would be working and not attending school.

Not only that, Chitose, Maria and Tamotsu would be here.

It would be better.

At least she thought so.

She would still miss Mikoto though.

* * *

As with the first time she had been taken to the Natsume household, Mikoto took her up to her room. It was the same one she had before and it seemed that Yuki Natsume had never changed its appearance.

The carpets were still thick, the sheets laid out were still red with a pile of pillows atop them. The desk and chairs were in their original position.

Anna did occasionally return to stay a night at least once a month with the Natsume family. They loved her very much and they did give her the feeling of a family when she had stayed there. As such, she could never refuse them if they wanted her to come back and she really liked spending time with them.

They were good people and they had always been good to her.

Perhaps it was because in general, she had been rather well-behaved.

Except for that bounty hunting business but this was something she had done when she had moved to the apartment she had originally shared with Akemi.

Anna did have items of her own in this place such as clothing and therefore she had not needed to bring along much with her. She also had some stuff at Akemi's place which was easy to retrieve.

At least this time when she stayed here, she would not be completely cut off from those she loved. They did not have to cloak her presence in Seneca as much as before because she was no longer a helpless little girl.

She was capable of taking care of herself as she had displayed when she had fought those men in that very last bounty hunting case she had taken on.

Things were indeed different.

But she would not have as much freedom to go and come as she pleased. She had to inform the Natsume family and then Mikoto first who would then notify Chitose who would select someone to take her wherever she went.

Even when she worked at the maid cafe, there would be red clansmen stationed around who would be dressed in normal clothes. They would be able to keep an inconspicuous eye on her, and for anyone suspicious.

It ought to be fine, right?

"See you this weekend," Mikoto said to her.

Anna was not as frightened as she had been as a child but she was still sad that he was leaving.

He placed a kind hand on top of her head and she looked up at him. He was about to turn away and leave but she took hold of the hem of his white t-shirt.

Feeling the familiar tug, he turned around.

Anna was no longer so short that she had to catch hold of the ends of his clothing in order to catch his attention. Most of the time, she tended to touch his shoulder or arm now.

However, when something truly bothered her, she would slip back into her old habits.

Mikoto glanced at her.

"Are you going to miss me, Mikoto?" she questioned.

Her voice had a lyrical quality to it, especially when she spoke in low tones.

He released a sigh and gathered her soft, womanly body into his arms. He pressed his nose into the top of her head.

"Why wouldn't I, you brat?" was his reply.

Anna's face softened as she lay her head against his chest. For a long moment, she listened to steady beating of his heart.

She knew its rhythm very well by now due to the amount of time she spent by his side.

When his hold on her slackened she turned her wide gray eyes up at him.

"I will miss you," she confessed.

He was silent for a long moment as he observed her face without uttering a word.

Finally, he murmured, "You're still so innocent,"

Anna blinked.

Why did he suddenly say that?

"Mikoto..."

He let out a heavy breath. "I have to leave now, but," his hand took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced her to meet his fierce eyes before he continued, "you don't like it when I'm angry, Anna so don't do things to piss me off while you're here," he warned her. He was making it firm now that he had would take any endangerment she put herself in seriously.

Anna was silent for a moment, displaying her reluctance to agree. She gasped when he took her shoulders in his hands and jerked her upward.

She looked straight into his golden gaze without any display of fear of his bad temper.

"Promise me," he ordered.

"Mikoto-"

"Promise you will stay out of trouble," he commanded once more in a low tone.

Reluctantly, she nodded. Lowering her eyes, she gave him her word, "I promise,"

Mikoto was a man who, despite his lazy, nonchalant ways, always kept his word. It was also the one thing he expected from his clansmen-the keeping of their promises.

This included her as well...also that particular promise he had forced her to make a few months ago:

_'Turn away from me whenever you want me. If you see me looking at you in a way I shouldn't, walk away from me...' _he had said.

She was obligated to do as he had instructed.

Even if there were many counts of when she was reluctant to obey him in that aspect.

Seemingly satisfied, Mikoto gave her a rough kiss on the cheek before patting her head once more and bidding her a final goodbye.

* * *

As Mikoto left, he remembered something Izumo had once said about Anna due to her being a part of the Red Clan.

_"The problem with us is that even if we don't go looking for trouble, trouble finds us,"_

Mikoto only hoped she kept herself out of mischief and mischief kept away from her.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

***If there is something you don't understand from what Izumo was explaining to Anna about Mizuchi and Toshi's research, please let me know. I will try to clarify. **

****I may start focusing a bit on Akemi and Kei just now. They're also very important in this story. If you're not a fan of them, don't worry, the story is about Anna and Mikoto and they will be given a lot of attention.**

*****Most of the things with the Rise that has been mentioned occurred mainly the first part of the prequel, mainly from around chapters 6 to 23. **

**Thanks for reading and thank you, all of you who follow, favorite and review this chapter.**

**For those who reviewed:**

**Wonderland Reminiscence: I'm doing a lot better now, thanks for your concern :) I'm pleased you like the chapter and that you find Tamotsu to be cute :D 'Mr. Simple' is actually the only song I ever really paid attention to from Super Junior. It's really catchy. I saw a lot of the cards on tumblr, including the ones for Seri's birthday where it seems she was wearing a necklace that Izumo had been holding out in another set of the cards! Just like you, I also prefer seeing her with Shiro and Kuroh. With Shiro, it's really sweet and with Kuroh it's really funny :) If I ever write the story, I'll let you know. From what I understand about Ace is that in the very first game, he had that sort of twisted personality more than in any of the others. I think I read somewhere that he had toned down in the sequel I believe. If you have a guide for his route in the first game, I'd really appreciate if you PMed me the link :) I've found some for Blood and a few other characters, but not really for him. I do watch Free. I don't keep up with it often but I do find the time to watch the new episodes whenever I can :) I did start a fic with Gou and Rin (family genre) but I don't know if I will post it up, if at all. I'm indecisive about the plot, and then I'm focusing on this fic and there's another story I want to start with Kagura and Okita from Gintama. I only got into Gintama like last week and I thought it was probably the stupidest anime I've ever watched, and probably the only one that's ever made me laugh so much since Skip Beat XD. All the boys of Homra are pretty awesome. I have heard the name 'Shingeki no Kyojin' before but I've never really paid attention to it. I'm assuming it must be worth watching since you mentioned it :)**

**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: Yata really does end up the wrong place at the wrong time with Anna and Mikoto! I'm happy you like Tamotsu :) I got the idea for him being able to somehow 'command' him from one of the chapters in Memory of Red. It's from the one when Anna and Mikoto went on a date and they were sitting on a bench and some dogs had rolled onto their backs at the sight of Mikoto. I think the translators wrote that they had taken on a 'subservient position' :) Aw..I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way, and that you also lost the notebook. Well, maybe one day a bit of inspiration might hit you and you may feel like becoming more of a writer than a reader instead :D**

**Indochine: OMG, are you okay with taking that medication for so long? I try my best not to take anti-depressants because I'm afraid of becoming addicted to that stuff. Be careful, alright? I'm so sorry to hear that this happened to you though. I hope things really improve for you. Thanks for the advice, I'm really more relaxed these days, trying to cut off the things in my life that really cause me distress:) I saw the necklace and didn't really bother at first but then I remembered that there was the card with Izumo holding it out and I began to wonder! I checked around and tumblr when I saw your review and I saw the pics people posted with the comparisons! I'm really happy about that. Okay, I think I might start shipping Izumo and Seri more now. If Gora thinks they make an interesting couple, then I'm going to go with that :) Not sure if I would include it in this story, but we'll see how things go :) I also love the idea of Anna really wearing Mikoto's clothes for the same reason as you. Don't worry, some stuff is going to come up soon with Anna and Mikoto. Everyone has a breaking point, right ;) I liked the song 'Mr. Simple' from Super Junior. I can't even remember how I came across though :/ Probably from youtube lol. I think Yata is the perfect guy to interrupt those two because his reaction would probably be the funniest! I love babies too, they're so cute and adorable! And yes, so innocent. Yes, the plot is starting to take off now and I hope you really enjoy it :) Don't worry, if I make a sequel to this story which I am seriously considering, there will be a lot of easy going chapters in it ;) Thanks so much for your concern, and I appreciate the support you give as an awesome reader and reviewer. Take care and hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**

**Arius the Heretic: I'm really happy you enjoyed the last chapter, especially with Tamotsu. Just picture him as a cute baby with black hair, fair skin and chubby cheeks :) You're finally on your break? YAY! Enjoy it to the fullest :) I'm getting better, I'm more relaxed these days. Thanks for your concern :)**

**LadyCassie: Yeah, Yata's pretty bad lucky :D The heat really does take a toll on people. I had a relative who passed on from cancer so I really meant it when I said that you were doing something good. You're welcome :)**

**Mikoto's wife: I'm glad my descriptions really pleased you that much :) Glad you liked the chapter. **

**AngelGirl0200: I'm glad you loved it! Yes, darker stuff coming along. It's going to pick up pace soon. Not quite yet, but soon ;) **

**LindyLinn: I'm glad you really loved it! Yes, mosquitoes really are so horrible. Buzzing in my ear. Sucking my blood. I hate them! Yes, the plots on the roll now! I'm doing a lot better now, I just need to keep on relaxing and taking things easy :)**

**princessforeveralone: I think everyone hates those things! You were hospitalized because of them once? Did you get dengue or malaria or something? That's really awful. At least you're better now :) I'm glad you love Tamotsu so much! Yes, I am onto the next part of the plot! I'm sorry to hear the drawing didn't come the way you wanted it to. Best of luck next time! I'm glad the one with Tatara came out better. Do you have it posted anywhere? Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**

_**Thanks again everyone. **_

_**Take care and God bless :)**_


	28. The Honorable Thing

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS A RATED SCENE IN IT AND DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDERAGED! I WILL MARK IT OFF SO YOU WILL KNOW WHERE TO SKIP!_**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

_**Chapter 28: The Honorable Thing**_

_When Anna had first been sent to Seneca, she would often have dreams of Mikoto. They would normally be in his room, and it would be bright as if with morning light. So calm it was, and so serene. _

_Almost as if the light represented the purity of their relationship._

_Years later in Seneca, Anna found herself dreaming of Mikoto in his room once more._

_But there was no sort of 'purity' anymore._

_There was no more childish innocence because she was not a little girl anymore. _

_Anna was older now and the room was dark._

_She was not curled up beside Mikoto and they did not share soft words._

_No; on this particular night, Mikoto was lying on top of her. His larger body pinned hers to the bed as he used his hands to undo the buttons of the shirt she was wearing. His mouth was sealed to hers and she could feel his lust, his desire to dominate her. _

_And before he could finish stripping her, her alarm would go off and awaken her._

* * *

"The woman with the black hair is so beautiful! And the baby with her is so adorable! Her husband must be a really lucky guy," Akemi breathed out in awe.

She really had hopes and dreams that she would someday be blessed with a beautiful family of her own. She had no illusions of hoping for perfection but she did want happiness.

"Or rich," Kei remarked beside her as the pair observed the woman with the baby in her arms who was smiling at Anna.

"Huh?" Akemi looked up at Kei, confused by what he meant.

He grinned down at her. "The husband. Maybe he's rich,"

Akemi scowled. "That's a mean and judgmental thing to say! How do you know her husband isn't a middle class guy who married her because they both had undying love?!"

"Look at her!" Kei retorted, "the way she dresses alone says something! She's got a sophisticated air around her and her posture is almost perfect. That suit she has on is flawless! Of course he's rich!"

"Well maybe he is rich but they love each other!"

"I never said that they didn't," Kei pointed out.

"You implied-"

"I didn't imply anything,"

Before the two could continue, Anna passed by. She paused as she looked at them. "Her clothes are tailored by an old seamstress who doesn't charge a high price like most store outlets. Her husband isn't rich either and both had to work two jobs to support them and their child,"

Akemi and Kei stared at her. Anna continued speaking but directed her words at the blue eyed female now, "They love each other a lot,"

"How do you know this?" Kei asked carefully.

"Because I know them," was Anna's simple reply.

Her friends were stunned.

"Uh...I was just being an idiot you know, Anna. I didn't mean to say strange things," Kei apologized.

They were interrupted when JJ called out, "Anna, it's your turn at the cash register!"

She headed there while Akemi smirked up at the younger Junichi brother.

He smiled brilliantly in response and lifted a fisted hand to her cheek.

"Is something funny, Akemi dear?" he questioned kindly.

Akemi moved to turn and run off but he caught her fist in a tight grip. Still looking beautifully handsome as he beamed an angel-like smile at her, he continued, "Why are you running, my sweet? Are you _afraid_ of something?"

"Yes, you!" she hissed in reply.

His response was to tug her easily into his arms and hold her against him by the waist.

"Now now, why must you fear me? Am I not a good guy?" he continued talking ever so gently to her.

"You're a good guy! A brilliant guy!" she agreed hastily, but on a lower tone added, "But you're a crazy sadistic bastard on the inside."

Kei lowered his head to hers. "I'm being so kind,"

"Your kindness is a lie."

He released her and pressed a hand to his forehead in an overly dramatic way, "You wound me with your words!"

Akemi shot him an annoyed look and hurried off to the back of the kitchen. She thanked her lucky stars that they were at work, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten away so easily.

* * *

Over the years, Akemi and Kei's friendship had become very close for various reasons. They were both generally separated from their families: Kei's worked abroad, Akemi's seemed to hate her. They bonded over that reason.

Akemi could recall a time when Kei once confided in her that he missed his parents and brother terribly but he understood that this was their way of ensuring that he was well provided for the in future by sending him to one of the best schools while working elsewhere.

They argued a lot but both knew that this was their own way of teasing each other.

Especially on Kei's part.

It had become his hobby to harass her.

They both loved Anna to bits but because her life was already so integrated into her clan, and because she was such a closed book about herself most of the time, they had become closer to each other than with her.

Oh, Anna was very much aware of this.

But she was in no way hurt by it. She was glad that they at least had each other to hold onto.

As for love, well, Kei might love Akemi like a sister as he claimed that she was like family.

However, the yellow haired beauty loved him not as a sibling, but as a man.

As stupid and silly and annoying as her friend was, there was an underlying maturity in him. Nevermind that this was a facade he pulled on many times, she could see through it. Kei had been her support during difficult times.

"Why doesn't Akemi confess to Kei?" came a voice nearby.

Akemi jumped in fright and spun around.

Standing right behind was Anna who was bringing some dirty dishes. The white haired female was so silent sometimes that one might think her a doll. It was kind of..._frightening_ at times.

"Anna! You scared me! And what's this about confessing to Kei? You know that I don't-"

"Akemi likes Kei," Anna stated with underlying firmness. Her tone indicated that Akemi shouldn't even try lying to her because she already knew the truth.

Akemi lowered her head a bit sadly. "He's my friend and he treats me like a little sister. How can I ruin that?"

Anna set the dishes in the sink.

"So Akemi will keep her love secret forever?"

Akemi was a bit irked by her friend. She had once considered telling Kei how she felt about him but later on, she weighed the costs of her admission and decided that it was best to keep her lips sealed.

"What about Anna? Have _you_ admitted to your Mikoto how you feel for him?" Akemi retorted.

Akemi sensed Anna go very silent.

However, those normally paper white cheeks were red as a cherry.

"Anna?"

"Mikoto knows how I feel about him," she answered with suspicious vagueness.

Akemi grinned and touched her friend's shoulder.

"Did something happen between you two?"

_Hot heavy kisses, his arms around her, his lips on her skin..._

Anna's face was as brilliant as a tomato now. Her mouth remained firmly shut because she didn't know what to say.

Akemi grinned even more broadly.

"Why don't you tell me _all_ about it?" she suggested.

* * *

"So when he got the antidote in him which he had transfer to you, he got the side effect of a fever which made him lose control. He managed to stop things from getting more..._sexy_ between you two and then with some sort of weird magic you guys use, he had you block the memory of what happened between his mind and literally bind his passion for you by chaining up that part of himself that wants you?" Akemi summarized in one breath over a coffee break.

JJ and Kei were in the back preparing for the evening crowd.

Anna nodded.

"Would you have confessed to him?" Akemi queried.

Anna remained silent for a long moment as she held her warm cup of coffee between her hands. She relished warmth these days. Seneca seemed to be growing colder by the minute and she missed Mikoto's heated body at such times.

"He always knew I had a crush on him, and I always knew that he was thirteen years older than me and he wouldn't accept my feelings while I was a teenager as yet. If things hadn't happened the way they did, I would have told him when I was older," Anna admitted. Because when she was older, he would have accepted her feelings better.

He wouldn't have seen her as simply a child anymore.

The blue eyed girl nodded, understanding.

Then, with a thoughtful look, she remarked, "You know, your Mikoto-san always struck me as the kind of guy who just does whatever he wants and just takes whatever he wants...but with you he restrained himself."

Anna nodded.

Akemi grinned. "I think that shows just how much you mean to him: instead of acting selfishly, he thought about your feelings and what could happen to you. He gave you more consideration than he would to the average person. That says a lot about him...and his feelings for you."

Anna hadn't thought of it that way before. She had considered it but had never actually acknowledged just how much concern he really had regarding her. It was kind of annoying because she wanted him to act selfishly and just take her and end the madness that troubled her sleep.

On the other hand, this also made her aware of how much he truly cared for her.

Her golden haired friend continued to speak now as worry consumed her:

"Do you really think I should tell Kei? What if he rejects me? Things would never be the same between us," Akemi queried a bit sadly.

Anna took a sip of her coffee before speaking again.

"If you never tell Kei your feelings and he falls for another girl, would you regret it then?"

Akemi's looked thoughtful. "Maybe. I wouldn't even be able to bear to be friends with him when I know he's going to boast about her. He had girlfriends in the past and it was like I was poisoned with jealousy when he went around with them, even if I knew he wasn't serious. If he truly falls in love..."

The girl's eyes welled up with tears. "I don't know what I'd do," she whispered.

Anna reached across the table touched her friend's hands comfortingly.

"And if you tell him how you feel and he rejects you, what will you do?"

"I..."

Akemi fell silent. Then, her hand went around the pendant of her necklace. A person was merely a human, imperfect in many ways.

Yet, they had the capability of being strong, not just physically but emotionally as well. She could lose Kei's friendship and destroy that between them with a few simple words.

But it wasn't fair to also long for him in a different way, and want him so badly that it hurt. She was in pain either way and she needed to do something about it.

It would shatter her if he rejected her, but she would pick up the pieces of herself and become stronger. It would take time to heal, but she would try.

"There's a chance that he might feel the same way," Anna softly encouraged.

Akemi glanced at her.

Yes, there was that glimmer of hope.

From the way he touched her more sweetly these days and from the way he became very protective of her when over-zealous customers hit on her, did suggest the possibility.

Maybe that sibling-type love was really something more.

"Yes," she agreed with a smile and gripped her friend's hand tightly. "you're right."

* * *

After Akemi confided in her that she would tell Kei her feelings at long last, Anna was taken back to the Natsume household. She was here for five days already and tonight she would able to head home to Homra.

On each night she had been in Seneca, her dreams had been troubled by illusions of Mikoto kissing her, touching her and stroking her body. He would drive her to sweet insanity but before things could grow even more heated, she woke up.

* * *

"Mikoto's with Munakata at the Gold King's headquarters," Izumo informed Anna.

She had arrived home a few minutes ago and had been eager to see him.

Her eyes twitched slightly and it was the only indication of her disappointment.

"Oh," she murmured and picked up the glass of orange juice.

Izumo knew that she was upset that Mikoto was not here but was trying to hide it because she did not want Izumo to feel that the only person on her mind was their King. The rest of her clansmen, including her guardian, were all precious to her after all.

Mikoto just tended to stand out a lot more...for various reasons.

Mainly because her love for him was different from what she had for the rest of her clansmen. Also, because it was at his side that she truly felt at ease.

Izumo ruffled her hair slightly by lifting his hand from behind the counter and patting her head.

"He'll be here later. The guys were looking forward to you coming back. I think Yata got a new zombie video game he wants to play with you."

A little cheered up now, she nodded and finished off her juice.

* * *

Mikoto sat opposite Munakata at the table as the Blue King ran through some files regarding the missing strains.

The Red King was bored.

_Extremely_ bored.

All he wanted to do was to go home.

Why did being a King entail such _tiresome_ jobs?

He became distracted when his phone vibrated. After fishing his PDA out of his pocket, on the screen he saw a text message:

'_Goodnight, Mikoto_' was all that it said.

His face softened slightly when he saw that it was from Anna.

So she had come home and was going to bed now. He was glad that she chose to do so rather than wait up for him. He had mentioned to Izumo that if he did not come back early, to try to talk Anna out of staying awake too late to see him.

It seemed that the bartender must have succeeded.

"A message from your princess?" Reisi remarked casually. His eyes never left his documents as he fiddled through them.

Mikoto tucked away his phone and retorted, "Shut up,"

Reisi decided not to banter with him tonight. They were both tired and just wanted to get out of here and away from this job that was leading them nowhere.

Munakata was here only because duty called for it. As a man of discipline, he had a reputation to uphold whereby he complied with the request of the great Gold King.

Mikoto was here because if the current situation with the missing strains was related to Toshi and the Rise in anyway, Anna was in danger. Otherwise he wouldn't have given a rat's ass about the Gold King's requests. More than likely, the old man was aware of this and therefore knew how to subtly bait these two into doing something that he needed.

Munakata was silently amused that the huge irritation he had just sensed from his fellow King had significantly reduced since he had read his message from his female clansman.

Anna Kushina.

The one person who could make the ferocious Red King read 'Alice in Wonderland' in a bookstore.

Who had blatantly and innocently told the grand Blue King, '_We're on a date_'.

She had been quite interesting as a child, and she was perhaps even more so as an adult now.

"You're losing your concentration, Munakata," Mikoto warned him as he flipped open another file.

* * *

_The dream was really a memory from long ago. Back when an eight year old girl found herself outside amidst piles and piles of thick white snow-remnants of last night's blizzard._

_Around her, her clansmen were being rowdy and raucous as usual. Yata had kicked Kamamoto into a huge pile of snow. He fell onto his back and basically sank into it so that only his huge belly was showing up._

_Yata began to laugh out loud at how crazy Kamamoto looked while Shouhei was busy behind the skateboarder forming a perfect snowball to pelt at his shorter comrade._

_With an almost evil look on his face, he was thinking how this would be his way of getting back at Yata for being a bad tempered bully._

_He threw the snowball but Yata turned last minute and it sailed past his head and slammed straight into Chitose's face! _

_Dewa was beside him and watched his friend with a worried look._

_Chitose did not move for a long time and Bando held his breath._

_Then, slowly, the flirtatious man wiped the snow from his face._

_Revealed now was an wicked smirk. _

_Gathering up a huge pile of snow, he yelled, "Prepare yourself, Bando!"_

"_What a bunch of kids," Izumo sighed beside Anna while Bando ran from Chitose as if the devil was at his heels. Chitose was after him with snow in his hands while Dewa was shaking his head in exasperation. Kamamoto seemed to be unable to get up from the snow and Yata couldn't stop laughing. _

_Anna observed her clansmen horsing around. _

"_They're nice children, aren't they?" Anna replied to his comment._

_Izumo glanced down at the small child. When she spoke just now, she sounded so mature. How ironic that a little girl was talking about how adults were nice 'children'._

_He lay a kind hand on top of her hair that was as pale as the fluffy masses of cold stuff around them. _

"_Yeah, they are," he agreed._

_He turned away when his attention caught sight of Fujishima feeding some stray cats a tin of tuna nearby._

_Anna wanted to join the guys and play with them too. She lifted one foot high and pressed it into the thick snow that reached her thighs. _

_As soon as her foot sank into it, she lost her balance and fell into the cold, wet stuff._

_Mikoto had seen what had happened. If anything, Anna had looked like a rabbit who indadvertedly misjudged the height of the snow and ended up jumping in deeper than expected._

_He frowned when she did not get up right away._

_After walking over to her, he reached down into the hole her body had formed in the snow and caught hold of the back of her dress._

_He pulled her upright and out of the snow. She was wet and her clothes were soggy._

_Anna looked at him and blinked. "Mikoto?"_

"_You're not normally clumsy, brat."_

_"I'm not clumsy," she denied with a straight face. Mikoto placed a hand on his hip and cocked an eye at the child who had just tripped into a pile of snow._

_"Oh? Then how did you end up like this?"_

"_The snow is deep."_

_"I see. It's the **snow's** fault," he remarked.  
_

_"Mikoto..." she began but he brought her closer and flicked the middle of her forehead. _

_She was cold. He wasn't going to stand here and argue with her over something meaningless. "You should go inside now," he suggested._

_Anna's eyes began to shimmer like that of a puppy's. _

"_Do I...have to?" she asked softly. He could sense the underlying reluctance in her to go and she gave him one of those looks he couldn't refuse._

_Tsking in annoyance, he set her down. Instead of marching her off into the bar, he released some of his power so that the heat of his aura engulfed her in gentle flames and soothed away the cold and the wet from her._

_Anna closed her eyes at the feel of his power._

_With Mikoto, it was always the warmest..._

* * *

_The dream melted away like the cold snow but the heat didn't disappear._

_It only increased as Anna found herself in the dark. She was in Mikoto's room, lying flat on his bed on her back. He was hovering above her. _

_His back was bareback. In the dimly lit room, she could see the sweat glistening on his body which__ rolled down in soft droplets across his lightly tanned skin._

_Anna was wearing on her old red and black dress._

_But she was not a child._

_She was the sixteen year old girl she knew herself to currently be._

_And like that night when she had been poisoned, Mikoto tore the dress apart at the front. Anna released a soft gasp at his actions. _

_He ignored her and quickly disposed of her clothing so that she remained in only her bright red underwear before him._

_She could see the hunger in his gaze as his golden eyes skimmed her slender, white, beautiful body. _

_She lifted her arms out to him as that ache within her grew. _

"_Mikoto..." she whispered huskily. _

_His eyes flashed to her face and he lowered himself to her. She knew he wasn't going to hold back, she knew he would have her. _

_He was going to finally claim her. _

_He..._

* * *

Anna's eyes flew open at the sound of her phone making a strange noise. She turned to see a light at the top blinking. This meant that the battery was dying and was begging to be powered up. Had she not trained herself to mask her emotions so well, she would have cursed badly enough to make a sailor blush right about now.

Why did this _always_ have to happen?!

After tossing her blankets off she picked it up and hurried to find the charger. After she plugged it in, she realized something:

Her body was hot.

_Hot_

Her breasts themselves felt full and tight and between her legs had a burning sensation. She knew this feeling.

She had fought it so much.

She had become aroused because of those dreams she had been having lately, of being laid bare before the man she loved so that he could take her and claim her as her own.

She would fall into a deep sleep and dream of his large, rough hands running over her slender body. He would kiss her, caress her and make her cry out softly.

Moan and whimper.

And then she would awaken.

Sweaty.

Sticky.

Hot.

_Unsatisfied_.

* * *

The first thing Mikoto wanted was a bath when he got home. He was glad that there was a bathroom adjoining his bedroom. That meant he wouldn't have to move far from his lovely warm bed.

Anna had long since gone to sleep and he didn't mind too much. He preferred that she got as much rest as possible, considering how much many hours she worked in Seneca.

And as a person who cherished sleep so much, he was pleased that she got enough of it as well.

Despite being weary when he got home, he was troubled by his dreams and awakened feeling cranky.

Mikoto released a huff as he gazed up at the darkened ceiling in his room. For a cool night, his body was unusually hot.

He tsked in annoyance and moved to lie on his side. Why was he having so much trouble sleeping? He tossed and turned for a while before he finally realized something.

Anna was _not_ in her room. He could not sense her presence.

Frowning, he got up.

Maybe she was in the bathroom he decided.

Figuring that he ought to get something to eat instead of lying in the dark, bored and restless, he tossed his sheets aside and headed out the door.

That was when, bypassing the staircase, he heard the shower running.

It was close to two in the morning and the only other person in the bar was Anna. She was indeed in the bathroom.

But why the hell would she be taking a shower at this hour?

Wondering if she was ill, the red head made his way to the door. He knocked on it.

"Anna?"

No response.

He knocked again.

"Anna?" he called more loudly.

There was absolutely no response.

That made him concerned.

He touched the knob of the door, glad to find that it was unlocked. He didn't really want to have to break it down and have Izumo screech at him for it afterward.

The shower was still running but the first thing he noticed was that the room was freezing cold. It was Autumn so the chill was to be expected. What was _more_ worrying was that there was no steam coming from the shower either. No heated vapor was rising from behind the blue shower curtains.

If it was cold, shouldn't one take a warm bath?

Immediately concerned for Anna, Mikoto hurried to the shower and shoved the thick plastic curtains aside to reveal the beautiful girl he protected.

She was huddled under the icy blast of water with her arms around her knees. Her long, long hair fell in heavy wet masses around her.

Since her arms were around her knees which were drawn up to her chest, her nudity was well hidden from him.

That did not stop him from cursing at the sight of Anna. What the hell was wrong with her?!

Anna wasn't aware of much. She only noticed that Mikoto was there when the spray of the shower turned off and she heard his swearing. A thick white towel was draped around her and suddenly, her beloved's large hands were gripping her shoulders tightly, shaking her.

"What hell are you doing?" he demanded of her.

Anna blinked at him.

_Hot kisses, sweet touches...she wanted it. _

Even as her desire plagued her, she remembered his words from that night a few months ago.

Back when they had been in his unconscious state of mind.

_'I want you to seal this up. I'm giving you responsibility.'_

And yet again she remembered these more specific words: _'This is the responsibility I'm giving you: our future...turn away from me whenever you want me...'_

And she indeed wanted him _now_.

Anna tried to shove him away.

"No," she whispered. "I need this."

However, her movements were weak and Mikoto's expression showed worry. He muttered some more expletives before he lifted her into his arms.

With no memory of what had happened, he was unable to comprehend her behavior.

Why was Anna acting like this? So..._desperate_ to get away from him?

Since when did Anna push him away?

Why would she do such a thing?

Anna _never_ rejected his touch-unless he tried to tickle her which was only on extremely rare occasions.

* * *

Anna expected him to dump her in her room and lock her in there, but instead, to her fright, she was taken to his bedroom instead.

A place that always smelled like him...like whisky, cigarettes, something spicy and completely male. It was always the first thing her female senses picked up on. In her dreams it was perhaps one of the most vivid things about him and therefore her young, sensitive body already began to feel excited just from the scent.

She immediately began to struggle and she was dropped onto the ripped up couch Mikoto refused to get rid off.

Mikoto reached down and caught hold of her face with one hand.

"Were trying to kill yourself?" he demanded as he forced her to look at him.

He was so close to her.

His body.

His heat.

Oh God, his _hands_.

This was _torture_.

_'Turn away from me whenever you want me...'_

Those words kept playing in her mind.

She tried to turn her head away, but Mikoto forced her to look at him. "Answer me," he growled.

He was angry. She hadn't seen him this upset in a while.

He did warn her recently about getting him aggravated, hadn't he? When Mikoto was in a rage, and it was directed at her, he could become terribly frightening. Even if his warning had been for her to stay out of trouble, she also believed that she would be prodding at his temper if she did not do as he had told her to a few months ago when she had sealed his memory and bound his lust.

_'Promise me...'_

She would be breaking her word to him.

And if there was one thing that riled Suoh Mikoto, it was when someone broke their promise.

This should have scared her enough to forget these sexual feelings.

But if anything, in a warped way, she became more aroused by the forcefulness of his current tone. She wanted him to be forceful with her-not cruel, but dominant over her body, to play her like an instrument and draw forth those cries she always dreamed about.

Like the night he had caught up with her on her bounty hunting business. It was only later on that she realized that he had been feeling aroused that night too. Only when he had admitted to her that he wanted her badly did she come to understand that on that night, the way he had been touching her had been a combination of barely restrained anger and lust.

Thinking these things was certainly doing nothing to ease her libido.

Mikoto muttered something angrily under his breath and let her go, making her realize he was irked because she wasn't answering him.

He walked over to his closet and pulled out a towel and shirt in a rough, angry manner. He threw the towel at her so that it hit her on the head.

She slowly removed it and wrapped it around her hair.

"Are you sick, damn it?" he snapped at her.

Anna glanced at him.

Yes, she was sick.

She was sick because of _him_.

Because the sight of him, his nearness, was drawing uncontrollable emotions from her and she knew that she should go soon.

Leave Homra until these feelings went away.

And the words, _'Turn away from me if you want me..' _kept replaying in her mind.

She had to make some excuse to get the hell away and return to Seneca.

Back when she was fourteen, she had used there as a refuge from the confusing emotions that had stirred up inside of her for him. She had become terrified of how she had felt for him and it was only by working in the maid cafe and spending time away from him was she able to gain some control over her growing body.

Once more, Seneca was going to be her safe haven, not just from Toshi, but from her precious King himself.

But she couldn't leave for there until morning, and she was locked in this room with him.

Slowly, Anna nodded at question regarding whether or not she was ill.

Mikoto's ire seemed to recede somewhat at that because her acknowledgment that she was somewhat unwell alleviated some of his confusion and turmoil over what was wrong with her.

He walked over to her and sat beside her. He grasped the towel on her head and roughly dried her hair for her. When he removed the cloth, her hair fell in long, stringy strands around her. Mikoto lifted up the shirt he had taken.

"Lift your arms," he ordered gruffly and she obeyed.

He slipped the shirt through her arms and pulled it over body. He had her stand and he pulled it down over the towel.

As always, his familiar shirts were huge over her slender figure and fell to her thighs. The material he favored was always soft and smelled like him.

Mikoto grasped the bottom of the towel and tugged it from her body. He set it aside and he paused suddenly, glancing up at the girl standing in front of him.

He took hold of her hips in a gently but firm grip and he noted how nicely they fit into his hands.

Anna had a beautiful figure for a young woman her age. Her breasts were perfect and aligned and there was a slender indentation to her stomach, giving her a lovely shape.

Looking up at her, he noted that she still retained that ethereal look, only she looked more like a beautiful dryad now.

His thumbs drew easy circles on her soft curves as he observed her. Anna almost shuddered at this simple touch. She was on fire right now and having him near her was _not_ helping her.

"Mikoto?" she said his name in confusion.

He could sense that her body heat was high.

It made him wonder if she had a fever. Mikoto stood up and lifted her once more with one powerful arm across her shoulders while the other was under her knees. He carried her over to the bed and lay her down on it gently.

"I'll tell Izumo to take you to the doctor tomorrow," Mikoto said as he pulled the blanket over her. Anna shook her head. She couldn't go to any doctor for her sickness. She had to go to Seneca instead!

He caught her chin in his hand again and glowered at her. He was obviously not impressed with what he saw as her defiance.

"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"

"I'm not-"

Mikoto's eyes narrowed. "You just said you were. Damn it, Anna. What the hell is going on?"

With that, she struggled away from him, but he grasped her wrists and pinned them on either side of her head while using the weight of his upperbody to hold down her own so that his hard chest was pressed against her soft one.

"Mikoto, please," she begged."I'm hot. It's _too_ hot,"

Mikoto knew Anna long enough to know that there was definitely something wrong with her and that she did not want to tell him.

There was a dull flush along her cheeks, her eyes were watery and pleading. Her breaths were even coming in short puffs. Normally she was one who did not show emotions.

To the back of his mind, he heard chains echo. He always heard them when he got too close to Anna but now they were louder, rattling as if something was going to break loose.

"Anna, tell me what's wrong," he insisted.

She shook her head and she could feel _it_.

She hadn't felt _it_ in a long time.

Her power was going to overflow and she couldn't stop it!

* * *

_The air was thick and heavy, and the sound of heavy kissing could be heard. _

"_You're hot...so innocent..." a male voice murmured thickly. _

_Large hands clasped small ones and a mouth hotly covered another's. Tongues mated, hands moved, caressed, teased._

_It was hot._

_So **hot**._

_All this heat caused by a red headed man and the beautiful white haired woman in his arms. _

Mikoto thought back on the dreams he had been having, of some mysterious woman in his arms. A woman whose body he wanted to conquer and completely make his, while yet being a slave to her because of what she could evoke in him.

His mind had been telling him for a long time that he knew the person.

And he had.

But some part of him refused to acknowledge that the woman was Anna even though he knew that it was.

What he had just seen was a tiny shard of Anna's memory of that night.

He heard the chains snap and that part of himself he had Anna lock away returned. His Passionate self was no longer bound.

Closing his eyes briefly, he saw a door that had chains around it in front of him. In his palm was a key. He walked to the door and pressed the key into the lock.

It swung open and the memories he had forced Anna to seal away were revealed to him. Now he was able to recall everything that had happened from his own mind.

Kissing her, tasting her flesh and pressing against her until her body shuddered with pleasure. She had come apart in his arms so beautifully and he had wanted her more and _more_.

Now, he was wholly and completely Mikoto Suoh again.

* * *

Mikoto opened his eyes now. His body ached.

It throbbed with _need_.

The same kind of need he had forced himself to turn away from on that fateful night.

His desire for Anna was back with full force.

Looking down upon her, he saw the way her normal blank expression was gone. It was replaced by a naked and vulnerable look of fear and shame, yet with deep passion behind those eyes.

Her arousal was so strong, it could almost be called powerful for it had affected her power and caused an outpouring of it.

Anna's power had never gone out of control like this in many years.

She was suffering right now.

He had made her promise him to hold back, to stop both him and her.

But in the end, it had been nothing more than a troublesome burden on her.

A part of him could claim that when his mouth crashed down on hers, it was out of pity, that it was desire in him to save her and ease her pain as he had conditioned himself for many years to protect her, help her.

But honestly, that was a lie.

For his own passion for her was strong.

Especially with the memory of how lustful she was in his arms.

**************************RATED SCENE STARTS HERE! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE UNDERAGED! DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SMUT!********************************

Anna had been taught to kiss from her red haired King himself so when he ordered, "Kiss me," she was more than willing to comply. His mouth slanted over hers when she pressed her own against his.

His eyes were piercing gold and she could see something deep, almost animalistic there. Her body started to feel more sensitive at that look and she could do nothing but trust and obey him.

As soon as his lips widened, he covered her mouth again, and this time his tongue sank into its hot depths. He gathered her in his arms, deepening the kiss, causing her to moan beneath him.

When he finally released her mouth, she was in his arms, breathing hard.

Mikoto was losing his senses for there was a passion growing in him, potentially more powerful than her own. He wanted to have his way with her, in all possible ways. He wanted to see more naked and vulnerable expressions of hers, make her cry out and gasp his name and moan in pleasure.

Anna knew he was losing control.

With the way he was kissing her, so hotly, so wetly, she was unable to concentrate and figure out if he remembered everything or not.

_'...If you see me looking at you in a way I should not, walk away from me...'_

Anna gripped his shoulders tightly. Even when he pressed her into the bed and began to attack her neck, ravaging it with hot kisses, sweetly sucking, all the while leaving a trail of red marks that absolutely _throbbed_ with pleasure, she knew she had to comply with what he had ordered her to do.

Even when his fingers reached for the buttons of the shirt, she _knew_ she had to stop him.

She grasped his wrist, making him pause.

In the dimly lit room, golden eyes that had an almost animalistic look in them almost glared at her. She was like a meal for him.

The prey of the hungry lion.

And he was going to absolutely devour her.

As much as she was willing to be his prey, she knew she had to stop. She knew he would regret things if he acted solely on instinct with her.

"No," she whispered.

Mikoto's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You're telling me 'no' when I can clearly see 'yes' in your eyes?"

Anna shivered at his tone. It was thick with lust.

Her body surged with desire and she closed her eyes momentarily, hoping to ease it.

But that was not possible.

Not when Mikoto reached down and ripped the first two buttons of her shirt open, revealing her cleavage. She gasped at his motions and whimpered when he covered her mouth with his again. Almost angrily, he thrust his tongue against hers.

Almost punishingly, he sucked on it.

He released her captive lips just as one of his hands covered the firm globe of her chest. Her eyes widened when his large, calloused hand began to caress her.

She released a low hiss of pleasure when his fingers focused on the tip.

It was like a burning hot arrow had been shot to the centre of her body when he touched her like that.

"M-Mikoto..." she moaned his name, closing her eyes while he smirked above her.

"You're telling me 'no' when you say my name like that?" he asked in an low, husky voice.

He abruptly pushed her onto her stomach and pulled her upward slightly so that he could peel the shirt back over her shoulders, revealing her milky skin that he was going to taint.

He proceeded to focus his wet tongue on a particularly sensitive spot at the base of her neck to the back.

She was holding his hand that was still caressing her breast and her grip tightened.

Her body was becoming hotter by the second.

She wanted more of him.

So much more.

This wasn't enough!

His other hand slid down her side, brushing her hip and going to her soft thigh. Slowly his warm hand shifted to the inner part of her thigh and began to move upward with agonizing slowness.

She wanted this, yes.

But she had to stop him.

When it was over, she couldn't bear that Mikoto force her to seal away his memory again. She couldn't accept that!

They needed to deal with this _now_!

Sex might be something casual to some people but not for all. For people like Anna and Mikoto, it would be much more than that.

And whatever more it was, they needed to sort it out before they gave in.

"No..." she tried again, even when his index finger almost teasingly brushed her most intimate place. She released a startled cry.

She was so _sensitive_ there!

"You're wet. I can feel it," he whispered mercilessly into her ear before touching her lightly again. His teeth nibbled at her ear simultaneously while his hand was still at her breast.

Even as her own hands gripped his wrists, trying to push him away, she desperately wanted him to kiss her again, to touch her with more force.

To strip her naked and end this agonizing teasing he was doing to her!

But she knew that this should not happen.

The last time he had been the one to stop.

Now she needed to do so.

*********************************************RATED SCENE MORE OR LESS ENDS HERE********************************************** ********************

He had given her the responsibility, hadn't he?

Hadn't he also outlined the reasons why?

Including the fact that neither had protection?

Struggling, she finally managed to whisper shakily, "You said I'm only sixteen,"

That made him go completely still.

Playing her cards properly now, and going with the assumption that he did truly remember (why else would his passionate self be present right now?), she continued, "That I must turn away from Mikoto, even if I wanted you. That I must walk away if you wanted me,"

With that, she heard a quiet snort.

"Yeah, I said that, didn't I?" Mikoto agreed before releasing her completely and drawing back. The sensual atmosphere began to fade and in its place, a chill was coming in.

Anna watched over her shoulder as Mikoto moved to sit on the side of the bed. He somehow produced a cigarette and proceeded to light it.

"Mikoto?" she voiced his name with uncertainty.

Just like that it ended?

The sexual atmosphere was _gone_, as if it hadn't been there before.

Her King released a long stream of white smoke. "You did everything I asked you to, Anna," he said quietly. Looking at her with indiscernible eyes, he added, "I'm sorry it was such a burden to you."

"Mikoto..." she began and moved toward him, but he waved at her, indicating that she should sit.

"You better fix that shirt and cover up with the blanket or there'll be a repeat of what just happened," he warned her.

Anna obeyed while he kept his back to her. He was probably trying to calm down because she could see that his red was that dark, rose color kind that came about only when he wanted her. This also showed her that while he might be acting cool, he was definitely still close to losing it again and taking her for himself. If he did that, neither would be able to stop. They desired each other too much after all.

Meanwhile, Mikoto picked up his PDA from his nightstand and made a call.

"Izumo," Mikoto growled through the phone.

Izumo had been sleeping quite restfully for the last hour.

"Eh? Mikoto? Do you have any idea what time it is? What heck's the matter?" Izumo demanded.

"Get your ass over here," the King responded.

"What? Are you crazy? It's early morning still!" the bartender paused, "did something happen?"

"Unless you want me to rape your precious Anna, get over here!" Mikoto snapped impatiently and hung up. He tossed the phone aside in aggravation.

Anna was bewildered by his actions.

This alone displayed how Mikoto was less calm than he appeared to be. He was raging with lust right now and he was trying hard to not let Anna see this.

"M-Mikoto? Why did you tell him that?" she questioned. It was more than obvious that she was a willing partner.

Mikoto glanced over her shoulder. She looked like a confused little animal right now. Despite having not been combed, her hair remained smooth and silky over her shoulders. Her eyes had the wideness and depth that shone from a rabbit who was gazing at someone with wariness and confusion.

Then his eyes fell on her slightly parted lips. They were swollen with his kisses and he only wanted to bruise that sweet mouth again with his own.

But, he could not go there.

Not right now.

Anna had managed to stop him this time and therefore he needed to keep a firm hold of himself.

"You're not at the age of consent until you turn seventeen next month. This counts as statutory rape," he pointed out.

Anna was silent for a moment.

"What do we do?" Anna asked softly when she finished. Mikoto finished his cigarette and pressed it into the ashtray.

He was never one to hide anything and therefore he told her, "I agreed with Izumo that if anything like this should happen between us, I would marry you," he glanced at her now, "but you already know that I had already intended to do so."

Anna was surprised that he was aware of this.

But then again, he would have been able to sense her presence outside the door of the storage room on that day. That meant that he knew that she had overheard him saying he would marry her when she was older and also he knew that she did not hear the part when Izumo told him that if anything sexual happened between her and Mikoto, they would go through with a wedding.

"Mikoto doesn't have to marry me if he wants my body," Anna stated.

Mikoto frowned at her. Saying that he wanted her for her body sounded like he was just using her for sex.

She was right though: if he had wanted, he could have had Anna keep silent about the entire affair between them and engage her in a sexual relationship.

Izumo would never have to know.

But Mikoto was not such a man. He didn't hide things, he didn't have secrets. He always answered honestly when asked, only one had to keep asking because he tended to be short and curt sometimes.

He normally wouldn't have given a damn whether or not Izumo found out that they were having sex without being married. It was easy to throw the hypocrisy card at the bartender anyway. However, he had still made that promise to the bartender. It wasn't a 'I promise' kind of thing, but he did agree with Izumo that if anything sexual happened between himself and the princess, he would do the right thing and marry her. It was a vow of sorts between men who friends.

However, there were other reasons why Mikoto did see fit to bind himself Anna and to attach his last name to hers.

The main reason was one regarding her parents. As with Izumo, he did give a lot of thoughts to the deceased people. He did not know them, but because they were important to his precious princess, they were important to him. He did respect them for bringing such an amazing girl into the world and therefore, he thought along similar lines to Izumo in terms of the kind of regard they would have wanted him to give to their daughter.

There were two things in Japan and perhaps in most parts of the world that that prevented pre-marital sex (aside from warnings of STDs). One was spirituality, and the other was honor.

In several religions, the idea of premarital sex was prohibited. Mikoto did not know if Anna's family had been spiritual or even what religion they might have followed, however, he did think that if there was a certain set of beliefs one followed, then one ought to stick to his or her morals and not be a hypocrite about it. He assumed that Anna's parents might have been very spiritual people and therefore he decided that he would go with what they wanted for their daughter in that aspect.

Now, _honor_ was something that was important to some families in Japan.

The knowledge that a daughter might have lost her virginity before marriage could bring great shame to some families.

Although this was something that was gradually changing over time-whether it be a good thing or a bad thing-these ideals were still very important to some.

Mikoto did not know how important this might have been to Anna's family. What he _did_ believe though, was that he ought to do the honorable thing in the eyes of Anna's parents and marry their daughter.

These were the only people Mikoto would give such regard to. If there was a heaven and the couple was looking down at their daughter and this man she cared for so much, he wanted them to at least not be that worried about her.

He owed the dead people that much, right?

After all, he could never truly repay them for bringing this beautiful woman into this world.

Mikoto normally never gave a lot of thinking with these matters. Neither did he have so much consideration for dead people.

But this was related to Anna in a large way, and the only time Mikoto tended to think a lot more than necessary was when it came to her.

He was a man who always took what he wanted, and he wanted Anna.

But she was the only person he had ever given so much consideration to.

"Your parents would have wanted it. Don't you think?" he replied.

Anna paused for a moment. Then nodded.

Yes, they would have indeed. Her father had been a wonderful man. At least that was what she recalled from the distant memories of him. He was cheerful and funny and he had been protective of her and her mother. She remembered him mentioning how he would punch the daylights out of any guy who wanted to date his little girl when she got older.

She didn't know if her dad might have stood against Mikoto but she did know her king would have had a lot of respect for him, simply because he was her father.

Her mother would have wanted her to be treated like a queen. Not as someone whose body should just be given over to sate a man's lust. She would have measured the importance of her daughter in that man's life by his decision to marry her and how well he tried to make that marriage work.

Anna knew this because her mother, for how sweet and gentle she had been, was also quite...firm sometimes.

In fact, it seemed that not even her father could have made her bend when her mother made a decision.

And her mother would have looked Mikoto in the eye without flinching, and not giving a damn if he was a king or not. All she would have been concerned about was her daughter's future.

"Does Mikoto _want_ to marry me?" Anna asked softly.

Mikoto lifted a red eyebrow at her.

"Do you really need to ask that?"

She lowered her eyes and shook her head.

Of course not.

Mikoto was a man who just did whatever he wanted to do. He didn't need anyone giving him rules, much less Izumo. This meant that the red king genuinely wanted to marry her.

"_Why_ do you want to marry me?" she questioned.

He shrugged. "I want you and you'd make a good wife."

Words of love wouldn't actually come out of Mikoto's mouth. Anna already knew this. He would never come outright and say it.

She did know that his love for her did exist in some way. She was special to him and she had always known that.

Whether it be as the child he held as a sort of security blanket or the young woman he desired, she was very much aware that he loved her in some kind of way.

Still, something didn't _feel_ right.

She never expected Mikoto to be romantic and go down on one knee for her, but she hadn't expected him to not even ask. In fact, he hadn't even said that he wanted to marry her now. He just told her that he did and he simply reminded her of the admission he had given to Izumo.

She turned her head and looked out the window.

"Will marrying me make you happy?" she queried. She did not look at him.

The moon was full tonight and was in perfect view from his window. It's light was bathed over Anna. She was sitting up on his bed with her slender shoulders exposed and her long white hair spilled around her body, looking silvery in the moonlight.

Her skin matched the color of her hair but her eyelashes stood out for they were so long and dark. They were lowered.

She looked like a moonlight maiden of some sort. An elegant, mystical being. She seemed like the type of person one would write a story about or do a painting of.

For she was unearthly.

Yet so beautiful.

Mikoto sensed her hesitancy. Even if he wasn't good at being suave with women like Chitose and Izumo, and even if he was rather hard headed, he did understand Anna and he did know that there was hesitancy in her.

After all, marriage was serious business and he just lay it on the table as if it wasn't something with so much significance. It was a bit cold. Even he realized that.

He knew he needed to at least speak from the heart. A little.

Anna was one of the few people he could somewhat open up to and therefore it wasn't that hard to start talking:

"I made you seal away that memory and chain up that part of me that desires you because I thought you were too young and that I myself needed to accept just how much older you really are now," Mikoto explained.

Anna nodded. She knew this.

"Sealing the memory and binding my desire were only temporary measures. I knew I would break one day."

Anna listened to his words carefully, knowing that he was trying to make her understand that marrying her was a lot more important than he was able to show.

"When I broke, I knew it would be at a time when I finally understood that you were truly grown up."

Anna looked at him with her large gray eyes. "And am I grown up now, Mikoto?" she asked softly.

Giving her a slight smile before a quiet snort, he nodded. "Yes, you are," Then, with brutal honesty as he was a man who rarely lied, "You're the only woman I want to marry."

That last line of his filled her with warmth. That was probably the closest to 'I love you' she would get from him, but she was content with that. This also made her realize that Mikoto did indeed take this talk of marriage seriously. Not only that: she was able to better accept that he wanted her bound to him not simply because wanted to have sex with her, but because he believed it would be good for the both of them.

At least that was what she told herself.

"I never wanted anyone except Mikoto," Anna told him quietly.

He nodded. He knew this. Over the years, she had remained loyally to his side. Her eyes never strayed. Even with Kei Junichi, she had never shown any romantic feelings. In those wide eyes, only Mikoto resided.

In her heart, he was the only man she loved.

"I love you," she admitted.

He did know that was well. She had told him so...albeit drunkenly.

Mikoto reached out and lightly stroked her pale cheek with his index finger.

"Do you want to get married then?"

Anna took his hand that was on her face between her own. Anna remained silent for a long moment. To be married to Mikoto would mean that she would be able to stay at his side permanently. This was all she ever truly wanted in life.

She and Mikoto, despite never having seriously courted before, did have something that was necessary for a good marriage:

Understanding and acceptance. They understood each other and accepted each other's flaws. They had lived together for many years and did tend to operate like a married couple anyway.

Just they never had sex and they weren't legally wed.

They still lusted for each other and Anna was the only one who confessed her love. Despite this, she was aware that Mikoto held special feelings for her. This _might_ be enough to base a marriage on.

Still, marriage is serious business.

It could change people-for better or for worse.

Gazing at him with a blank face but blazing red eyes, she asked him, "Will marriage work between us?"

Mikoto's hand formed into a fist and moved to cup her cheek gently. "I suppose we'd have to work hard to keep it together," he replied.

Anna's mouth curved upward slightly. Shyly, she covered his hand that was on her with her smaller, white palm.

"If...if Mikoto is willing to make it work, then I will marry you," she answered at last.

Mikoto grunted and returned a smile as well.

He moved to lower his head to hers to kiss her as a means of sealing their agreement.

Unfortunately, the door was flung open before their lips could meet.

There stood a huffing and puffing Izumo Kusanagi!

"What the hell is going on?!" he shouted.

* * *

Mikoto was sitting on the bed wearing nothing but his trousers on. Anna was beside him, clutching a blanket to her. She seemed like she was naked.

If anything, they looked like they just had sex and were sharing a little extra intimacy with each other.

At least that was what Izumo saw.

Mikoto removed his hand and drew back from Anna.

"That was quick," he remarked with a lopsided frown.

"_Of course it was quick!_ I rushed over here after you told me you were going to rape her! And it looks like you succeeded!" Izumo yelled.

Anna lowered her head in embarrassment. She clutched the sheet to her tighter.

Mikoto noted her actions. It ought to be obvious that she might feel a little more ashamed than Mikoto did of what had happened (actually, the Red King wasn't embarrassed in any kind of way). Izumo was her guardian after all.

For her, it was like her father or big brother had just walked into her having sex.

The red head released a sigh. He had to placate the bartender now.

"We didn't go that far," he told him.

"You didn't go that far? Then just where the heck did you reach?!"

"Far enough to decide to get married," Mikoto replied.

Izumo was stunned.

His mouth dropped open.

Izumo shook himself out of his daze.

"What?!"

Mikoto tsked and released Anna. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Of course it's what I wanted but I didn't expect you to lose control like that with her!" Izumo looked like a father who was wailing to his daughter's boyfriend about touching her inappropriately, "My poor Anna!" he almost sobbed.

"Shut up," Mikoto growled.

Izumo took in a deep breath and calmed down. In an uneasy voice, he said, "So you're gonna do it? We have to talk properly about this,"

The king released a huff and stood up.

"Fine."

However, Anna reached over and caught his wrist, stopping him.

He looked down at her.

She turned her eyes upward at him. "I want to talk about this too. It involves both of us...and I'm not a child anymore."

Mikoto glanced over at Izumo who nodded.

Then he turned to Anna again. He gave her a long hard look before speaking again.

"You're not," he agreed. After all, he had just treated her like a woman and not a child.

"Get dressed, Anna and come downstairs. We'll talk about it then," Izumo informed her. As the bartender turned away Anna and Mikoto realized that he although he had somehow managed to look impeccable in his trousers and shirt, he had driven all the way here with his bedroom slippers on.

* * *

Akemi was busy washing up the dishes while Kei was adding some cream and fruit to some pastry that was supposed to become many pretty mini fruit tarts.

The golden haired girl was rather nervous at this moment. She was painfully aware of every move that Kei made, every sound he emitted-probably even every breath that he took.

She was was having second thoughts about confessing to him and this was what was making her so nervous.

Suddenly, a set of fingers caught hold of her ribs, frightening her.

"Ack!" she cried out in terror.

Kei could swear that for a split second he saw Akemi's hair stand up straight as if she had become shocked by lightning before it returned to normal.

"What kind of reaction is that? What's wrong with you?" Kei demanded.

Akemi was a little out of breath from the scare he gave her.

"What's wrong? _What's wrong?_ You startled me!" she snapped in reply. "Why did you touch me like that?!"

Kei wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Since she was up to her elbows in dirty dishes, it was difficult to try to shove him off.

Smiling so warmly at her, he questioned, "Oh, does my touch repulse you in some way, sweet Akemi?"

She used her shoulders to shrug of his arms. While fighting a burning blush on her cheeks, she retorted, "You shouldn't touch a girl so casually,"

Kei withdrew his arm, surprised by her response. Akemi normally never made an issue if he ever touched her...at least not lately. Normally she would try to run from him before because she knew he had sadistic intentions.

The young man with caramel colored hair picked up a fruit tart and pressed it to her lips. Akemi automatically took it between her lips but her big blue eyes revealed confusion to him.

He merely smiled gently.

"You're too thin, Akemi. Even if you're a model, you ought to take better care of yourself."

He turned away and went back to his dishes while she chewed the fruity, chewy desert.

How rare for him to show such blatant concern for her!

"Thank you, Kei," she whispered.

His response was to deliberately poke her in the ribs, making her snarl at him before he hurried away with a tray of tarts, laughing on his way out.

Her anger dissipated and a smile came across her features.

She really should confess and get it over with.

Kei was a person worth confessing to.

* * *

_**A/N: Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed! The next chapter will explain a little more on Anna and Mikoto's wedding such as the date etc **_

_******I did some reading on Japanese views on things like virginity and that was where the mention of 'honor' came from. As I do not live in Japan, nor am I Japanese (although I have a little Asian heritage-not Japanese though :(), I do not know how certain these things are. This was just stuff I read on the internet and if I am wrong then you are free to correct me*******_

_***If you're a fan of Akemi and Kei, I think the next chapter should handle Akemi's confession. Their relationship is really crucial to this story.**_

_**Thank you, all of you who follow, review and favorite this story. **_

_**For those who reviewed: **_

**Arius the Heretic: Thank you for your kind words! Don't worry, I don't have any plans to endanger Tamotsu...yet :D Seriously, I had never really intended for him to have something bad happen to him (because he's just a little baby :3), but I could change my mind if I think it would be great for the plot ;)**

**Indochine: I think we all hate Mizuchi and Toshi so much! They're horrible! It looks like Anna and Mikoto aren't going to be separated for too long after this :P But there's a lot more that's going to happen with those two though ;) I really appreciate that you liked how I portrayed Maria's fear of Scepter 4. And thanks so much for reviewing 'The Best Thing Ever!' Hahaa you really did convert me to a Seri/Izumo lover. I have started to ship them a little more :) I'm glad you're stopping the meds soon. I have an uneasy feeling with doctors when they prescribe me medication, especially anti-depressants. I'm a bit paranoid I guess. Lol. But as long as you trust your doctors and you know you're in good hands, I'm sure things would go well for you. The first time I got those meds, I was told to take it at night because they would make me really sleepy! I can't deny that I slept more often and much better with them. Anyway, I hope you're doing well. Take care of yourself too :)**

**DBerryNia: Aw I'm glad you thought it was heartwarming and it made you recall nice memories of yourself :) Trouble is definitely going to find Anna alright. Not quite yet, but all in good time ;) And yes, definitely more Akemi and Kei coming up! By the way, thanks for reviewing 'The Best Thing Ever'. I'm glad you really liked Izumo and Seri's unnamed daughter too :)**

**LadyCassie: Oscar does that because he loves you so much and he wants all your love for himself! Such a sweet doggie! Give him a hug for me! The heat is horrible for me. I get skin rashes and all sorts of craziness :( Thanks for your condolescences. I appreciate it :)**

**xNightDreamerx: There's a lot of stuff I was gonna say, but then I realized that I was going to spoil the future chapters for you! Thank you so, so much for your kind words. I truly appreciate them! I'm sorry that I made you sad, but I'm kind of glad I was able to draw those feelings from you! I haven't drawn in a long time but I used to be a good artist. Maybe if I get some time, I could try drawing them myself :) I'm glad you're getting more Psycho-Pass! Yay!**

**friedchicken: Thanks for your review on the last two chapters. I'm glad you liked Tamotsu! Well, you'll see how things go with Anna in the future :)**

**creativeactive: Hm...I haven't put those guys in for a while and I remember reviewers asking me if they would show up. I'll try to remember to add them in later chapters :) I figure Mikoto might pick up a book on occasion if he's bored :)**

**princessforeveralone: I'm glad you liked the chapter! Nothing's wrong with being a bit tomboyish. When I was little I used to run wild all over the place with my brother and cousins! It was fun! But you're right to miss your old classmates, those were the guys who made your school life so much fun! I think Mikoto might pick up a book once in a while if he's really bored :) Aw...I made you sad? Sorry :( OMG, I'm sorry to hear you got dengue but I'm glad you're better now. I tried to see the picture but I didn't get through with the link. Is something missing before 'art' in the link?**

**AngelGirl0200: Poor Anna :( But don't worry, she has Mikoto! XD**

**Mikoto's wife: I wish I had a boyfriend like him as well :(**

**LindyLinn: I'm so happy that you like Akemi and Kei so much! Well, you have been disappointed with the lack of kiss with the last chapter but I hope this chapter made up for it ;) Thanks for reviewing the 'The Best Thing Ever' as well :)**

**Hannah Scholte: I only just checked to see my reviews and saw yours! Well, no big time skip but I hope you enjoyed. As long as you mention Growing Pains as the inspiration for your Mikanna drawings, I don't mind. I'd also really love to see them! Whenever you finish them, and if you've posted them up, let me know! Wow, I feel really honored that you'd want to draw stuff from the story! **

_**Thanks again everyone!**_

_**By the way, if you are a fan of Seri/Izumo, I wrote a oneshot with them called 'The Best Thing Ever'. You can check out if you want. Thank you to those of you who reviewed, also to dark atena, GreyWitch13 and Melody05 for favoriting, as well as LindyLinn for following the story. **_

**_Thank you once more and God bless :)_**


	29. Preparing

_I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands._

_I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving._

_Rated 'M'_

**_A/N: Please make sure that you read K: Memory of Red because this chapter does have spoilers for it._**

**_*There's some slightly suggested material in this chapter. It's not that bad so I didn't bother to mark it off. But you've still been warned. _**

**_**About half this chapter is also on Akemi and Kei. Thank you to everyone who really support them. I really, really appreciate that._**

**_*** Sorry for any extra grammatical errors. I don't have time to properly check because my internet keeps giving trouble and I happen to be editing when it keeps cutting off. Anyway, enjoy. _**

_**GROWING PAINS Part 2**_

by chickypeg

**Chapter 29: Preparing**

It was impressive of how well Anna had taken care of him over the years.

His eyes were as black and beady as the first time she had seen him. The hair on his head still brilliantly red and his body still maintained that golden brown color. The velvety material of it might have gotten a bit worn with all the hugging, cuddling and squeezing, but Lion-O was still a pretty damned attractive stuffed toy.

He sat upon Mikoto's armchair in all its glorious kingliness while the true King eyed him with great displeasure.

Lowering his hand, he picked it up by its scruff and looked at the toy straight into its dark eyes. A part of Mikoto desired to see Lion-O chucked into the trash. He had never really gotten over the fact that Anna sometimes chose to snuggle with the plushie instead of him when she was younger.

On the other hand, Mikoto was glad that the thing was still very much in good condition and probably would be for many years. After all, this stuffed animal had been a substitute for Mikoto himself for Anna. That was why she tended to always hug him when she slept, even though she was no longer a child.

Mikoto himself had crushed the toy in his arms from time to time when Anna was not here.

Well, he didn't want it thrown out.

But he still wouldn't tolerate it if Anna decided that she wanted to hang onto that thing even after they got married. She would have to shove it into the closet and leave it there.

Yes, that was _exactly_ what Anna ought to do.

And if she wouldn't do it, _he_ would.

"Mikoto?" came Anna's voice from the doorway. There was an inquisitive manner with the way she spoke. It was probably because she thought it odd that Mikoto was just standing there, holding Lion-O face to face with him while his expression was one of grand distaste.

Her king looked at her.

"Is Mikoto...angry with Lion-O?" she queried in a rather innocent, child-like manner. Mikoto glanced at the toy then back at her. He snorted and calmly walked over to her.

"Of course not," he replied and dropped her toy in her arms. He leaned his head down and roughly kissed her temple.

Anna's cheeks reddened slightly.

Not much had changed between them since last night but she could feel a difference when Mikoto touched her. There was bare restraint in him.

Years ago, when he had battled himself and had to form a proper balance between his mind and that beast of power he had inside of him, she used to sense something similar in him. It was like he was holding back himself constantly.

Everything he wanted to be, and anything he wanted to do had to be sacrificed in order to maintain that sort of control.

However, since his Sword of Damocles had started to heal, it was not so bad anymore. The similarity she felt between back then and now was related to his sense of control. He wanted her badly, but he was holding back.

"What are you going to do about that?" Mikoto asked her when he straightened up. He was referring to Lion-O.

"He'll sleep on my pillow," she replied.

Damn.

Mikoto made a quiet, annoyed grunt and lifted his hand to her cheek, pinching it. She whimpered in pain.

"You're going to be married, brat. Shouldn't you get rid off that thing now?"

She touched her fingers to the reddened skin of her cheek. Looking up at him with wide grey eyes, she questioned, "Does Mikoto hate Lion-O?"

Her gaze on him was unwavering.

_Unflinching_.

As if staring deeply into his soul.

Well, technically she was able to do so thanks to her power. That was why her eyes had that red hue in them whenever she looked at him.

For this reason, somehow telling her he was going to shove that thing away somewhere in a dark part of the closet had become a difficult task to carry out.

Because it seemed hard, he figured to just let the matter go and get over it.

Releasing an annoyed sigh, he muttered, "No," and brushed away her hands to give her a customary kiss as apology for pinching her tender white skin.

Anna knew that he wouldn't change in certain aspects. Pulling on her cheek, flicking her forehead were his methods of rough affection. He was a bully to her of sorts, but a sweet kind. When he called her 'brat', it was almost a type of endearment. Other people might find that he was still treating her like a child but Mikoto had never truly treated her as one in the first place.

To him, she was only a child because she looked like one. She was an adult now because she looked like one.

A very attractive one too.

It didn't matter what age she was at, he would act the same with her.

Except when it came to desire because that was the only time he made a clear line between whether she was a child or an adult.

Right now, he accepted that she was grown up, otherwise he wouldn't have found it appealing to marry her.

When Mikoto moved to lift his head from hers, she caught his shoulders in her hands. One of them still gripped Lion-O.

"Anna?"

Lifting her head shyly, she requested, "Will Mikoto kiss me?"

Mikoto blinked twice, surprised at what she wanted.

However, he complied and moved to cover her mouth with his softly. It was not a lustful, passionate kiss.

Simply a brief, sweet one.

Unfortunately, this did make his control wane and he abruptly wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her closer to his hard, hot body. His mouth forced her lips apart and she whimpered in response. Taking advantage of this, he thrust his tongue against hers, stifling the moan that was rising up in her.

Every time he shifted, his torso rubbed against the thin material of her dress and the sensitive flesh of her breasts.

She could feel him against her stomach now.

That part of him that physically displayed how much he wanted her.

As if wanting to make sure that she was aware of what she was doing to him, one of his hands shifted to cup the sweet curve of her backside while the other pressed into the middle of her back. This moulded her lower body against him. She could feel the buckle of his jeans digging into her stomach.

As well as the hardness of his desire.

Mikoto released her mouth and drew back slightly. Gleaming golden eyes blazed down at hers. They darkened with lust upon the sight of her swollen, wet mouth and her own glazed eyes.

"Do you feel that?" he demanded roughly.

She whimpered in response, unable to find words to reply.

Unsatisfied that she had not voiced an answer, he removed his hand from her backside and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. He shifted her face to the side and kissed the very corner of her mouth.

"Answer me," he growled and deliberately pressed himself harder against her.

"Yes!" she gasped out, feeling as though his flesh had branded her. She wanted nothing more than to have their clothes removed because it felt like an insufferable barrier against their bodies. And that was how she wanted him-skin to skin, flesh to flesh.

Mikoto's face moved to form a smirk. Taking Anna to bed was going to be a lot of fun for the Red King. There were different things that he was going to do to her. He planned to tease her until she screamed, until she begged him for more.

There were few things that gained Mikoto's interest like this. The only time he smiled like this was when he was up against a formidable enemy.

But Anna was not going to be his enemy.

No: she was going to be his wife and he was going to make her his pupil in bed. He was going to teach her about lust and passion. He was going to carve himself into her and condition her body to respond _only_ to him.

He lowered his head to kiss her again while his hands softly stroked the marks that he had left on her delicious body the night before. They were like trophies in his eyes on her skin. After all, they were love marks that branded her as his.

"Hey, you two. Stop that will you? Everyone's waiting downstairs," came Izumo's voice from the doorway.

The pair broke apart and turned to the bartender who had his hands on his hips and an exasperated expression on.

Mikoto shot him an annoyed look and released Anna whose entire face was red.

The King walked over to his second in command and muttered something to him which caused the bartender to roll his eyes.

"What did Mikoto say to you?" Anna asked curiously after setting Lion-O down on a chair.

Izumo sighed. "Just a really bad name for a guy who gets in the way of two lovers...please don't ask me what that word is,"

Anna nodded. She knew it was still embarrassing for her guardian to speak to her about anything concerning sex. She couldn't blame him because she felt the same way. Using sexual innuendos was also a big no-no between them as well. They simply weren't like that.

Izumo was a gentleman and he considered Anna to truly be like his daughter or sister. Anna was a graceful young woman and felt the same way toward her guardian.

Before following Izumo out, she paused momentarily, wondering what in the world her plushie had been doing in Mikoto's room in the first place.

* * *

All the regular members of Homra were gathered in the bar. This included Chitose who had dropped in from Seneca.

Certainly, they wondered why they had all been gathered here upon Izumo's insistence. Normally they had get-togethers for parties or the planning of parties. For their second in command to call up abruptly for no reason had them worried.

The said man apparently had something important to inform them of and had gone upstairs to fetch their King and princess. A short time later, the bartender entered his beloved domain that was soaked with the scent of alcohol and cigarettes.

Behind him followed their red headed leader. His expression was as nonchalant as ever as he headed over to the couch. His clansmen bowed respectfully at his presence.

After him was their pretty princess whose hands were folded neatly in front of her.

The white haired female seated herself beside her king.

The Red King leaned back casually against the backrest of the couch with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. In his mouth was a cigarette whose smoke curled upward almost lazily.

Sitting a short distance away was Anna.

Ever the elegant young woman she was, she was sitting upright with perfect posture. Her long white hair was spilled down her back and was a stark contrast against her red, velvety dress.

Her face was as doll-like as ever...but perhaps there was something in her eyes that was different.

Like a soft, warm glow.

A special kind.

A few of their clansmen noted the difference in her. Kamamoto spent a lot of time taking care of her since she was younger and therefore he was the first to note the barely noticeable change in her. The others perhaps sensed it but could not completely acknowledge it at a conscious level.

"I'm sorry to have called everyone so last minute together but there's something important I have to inform you of," Izumo told them.

Everyone nodded and waited for him to explain.

Izumo smiled and looked over at the pair on the couch. "I have some good news."

Although Mikoto didn't show any outward reaction to Izumo being on the verge of declaring their decision, Anna's posture did become more rigid.

She held her breath. Mikoto glanced at her when he realized that she was becoming nervous. Perhaps he didn't take things like a wedding as seriously as she did.

After all, he was a bit too hard boiled to be considered romantic. He also didn't really understand the female mind all that well either-only that they could be more stubborn and ignorant than any man (well, that was what _he_ thought anyway).

But he did understand Anna and therefore he was aware that this was something that had never happened to her before. Everything regarding her future had been with someone else's authority and not really her own.

The earliest part of her childhood had been with her parents who protected her. Then those bastards at the institute who subjected her to their horrible experiments despite her being under her aunt's care. Later on, it was the Red Clan who took her in. She was always guarded by them and taken care of.

Even with the bounty hunting, she had done that due to influence from her friends. The only time she had acted on her on had been when she did things based on emotion rather than rationality-which landed her in trouble.

The point was, was that this was something she was doing completely and totally on her own without anyone's authorship of her future. The decision had been hers to become wedded to Mikoto. She made this choice without interference from anyone. Only Mikoto had asked her if it was what she wanted to do, and she did.

It wasn't that she was having second thoughts. She would stick with it because her feelings for Mikoto had never changed.

Perhaps she was anxious about their clansmen's reaction. This was something that was going to be unusual and unexpected and she was probably a bit nervous about what they would say.

Mikoto knew they would be excited. They would rejoice over this decision. In fact, years ago Yata had claimed that the only person who should become their king's wife was Anna.

What Anna simply needed a bit of support from those who loved her to let her know that she made a good decision. Which was quite normal. People did tend to need the support of those they loved.

Mikoto did not move to comfort her because Izumo was already announcing, "Our King and Anna have decided to get married,"

The silence of their clansmen was deafening.

Only to be broken by a particularly short fellow.

"W-What? M-Mikoto-san and Anna are going to get married?!" Yata exclaimed. The skateboarder was sitting at the bar with a beer when Izumo had broken the news. The bottle of his drink tipped over and fell across the counter which caused the liquid contents spilled out of it.

The rest of clansmen began to speak out as well. They were asking, demanding if it was true.

"Jeez, will be more careful, Yata-chan!" Izumo chided above all the noise as he picked up the bottle and proceeded to soak up the liquid in a white cloth before wiping it away.

His scolding went through one of the skateboarder's ear and out the other because he hurried over the pair who was sitting on the couch nearby.

Anna was beside Mikoto about a foot apart. No one would really think that there was anything like a wedding that was going to happen between them.

"I-Is it true, Mikoto-san? Are you both going to do it? Get married?" Yata asked excitedly. Everyone gathered behind him, looking upon Mikoto and Anna with great expectancy.

Mikoto released an annoyed sigh. Yata's enthusiasm could be over the top but the king understood that his vanguard was simply happy for them.

Both the king and his intended bride expected that when he nodded, Yata would probably scream out loud like an excited girl.

Neither was prepared for when he sighed in relief, "Finally!"

There came round about nods of agreements, followed by cheers and fist pumping in the air.

"It was only a matter of time," Kamamoto remarked.

"I was waiting for this moment for so long!" Bando exclaimed and covered his face with an arm as he shed tears.

Mikoto frowned at them while Anna tilted her head slightly and blinked at the skateboarder since he was the one closest to her.

"Misaki?" she voiced his name. There was a thread of confusion in her voice. Why did it seem that they had known that this would have eventually happened? Shouldn't they more...stunned?

Yata hurried over and knelt in front of her. Taking her hands in his, he grinned widely.

"We're so happy! There's no one better for Mikoto-san than you! We always knew you were meant to be together! Didn't I tell you, Anna? You were always Mikoto's!"

Anna's blinked once more.

Yes, Yata had said that to her hadn't he? In fact, nearly all of the clansmen had told her something like that a couple months ago when they had come into Mikoto's room to apologize to her. She hadn't really understood what they meant, but now she did.

They had seen something very special and unique in her relationship with their king. It was something that outsiders could easily note.

Her face softened into a smile. She was doing this more often now and this just made the skateboarder even more happy.

Yata released her and jumped to his feet. "This is great!"

For them, it was like they had found the perfect husband for their sister and the perfect bride for their leader.

"You mean you're glad you won't walk into them anymore," Eric remarked.

Kamamoto, Shouhei and Dewa were standing with him and they all made sounds of agreement.

Yata glared at him.

"T-That's not the reason!"

Shouhei spoke then, "But Mikoto-san and Anna-chan already live together. Even if you walked into them before, it doesn't mean that you won't do it again if they never bothered to lock the door."

"What are you talking about?" Mikoto demanded in a gravelly tone.

Everyone froze. They hadn't thought that he had _actually_ been listening in on their conversation. Normally he eyed everyone sleepily and never paid attention. When he got tired, he would either nod off right there on the couch or head up to bed.

Yata was the one who braved to answer. "Well...normally I come across you and Anna being..._intimate_,"

Anna heard this and her mouth twisted slightly as she recalled the many times Yata had walked into them hugging or cuddling. The expression on the short fellow's face had been one of sheer terror and embarrassment.

Could it have been that after all this time, Yata had been..._misinterpreting_ a lot of their interaction? But then again, her relationship with Mikoto had always been a bit different and only few people were able to fully understand it.

Only Izumo had. And Tatara when he had still been alive.

The clansmen had also known that both Anna and Mikoto had special feelings for each other. It wasn't too surprising that Yata would have had a lot of misconceptions.

"Misaki-" Anna began but Yata lifted his hands up in protest.

"It's alright, Anna. You don't need to say anything. What's more important is that you're getting married," Yata told her in what might have sounded like forced maturity.

Anna fell silent.

Mikoto did not bother to say anything. He knew his vanguard wouldn't understand.

"Have you made any plans yet?" Kamamoto asked while holding up a hand in the form of a fist, like a man who was ready to pump his arm in excitement. He was smiling so happily that his mouth formed indents into his chubby cheeks.

"Ah...not yet," Anna replied.

"Anna will plan out the wedding when she goes back to Seneca. Maria, Natsume and Akemi will be able to help her with it. Women plan the wedding after all," Izumo said.

"Women plan the wedding?" Dewa repeated.

Izumo nodded. "Yeah. Haven't you heard about it before? Women plan the wedding and men plan the honeymoon,"

Like typical men, some of the guy's faces became a little sly.

"Has Mikoto-san planned the honeymoon yet?" Fujishima asked from the corner with the new puppy he had picked up.

Izumo knew that his clansmen were a bit ignorant of certain matters and tended to forget their manners in front of women...and children. The bartender shuddered at the times when they would pull some perverted talk with each other and Anna would happen to overhear. It was always a disaster when she asked what they meant by it afterward.

Even if she was older now and might actually know what they were talking about, she was still a young woman and they ought to mind their talk as a means of respecting her presence among them.

At least that was what a gentleman would do.

And most of the clansmen were a far cry from being 'gentlemanly'.

It was a wonder how most of them actually had relationships.

Izumo deliberately switched the topic.

"Have you thought of a date yet, Anna?"

They had a discussion about basic matters during the early hours of the morning when Izumo had come in.

_Anna pulled off Mikoto's shirt from her body and shrugged on a long sleeved, ankle length nightgown. It was perfect for this weather, but beneath it, her body was still reeling from Mikoto's touch. _

_There were marks on her neck and collar from his mouth. Her breast and thighs were still imprinted with the touch of his fingers and she could recall every single detail of his passionate touches on her. _

_She headed out her room and to the bar where Izumo and Mikoto were smoking. _

_Upon sight of her, Izumo straightened up from the counter he had been leaning on. He released a quiet breath. "I just spoke to Mikoto, Anna and I won't ask what happened between you two. I don't think I **need** all the details."_

_The red stain on her cheeks indicated that she truly agreed with him. _

"_But I do believe that you both really ought to get married as well, and quite soon too. You do understand though, that by getting together with this guy like this, you would have to quit your job in Seneca and come back here for good?"_

_Anna nodded. "I can work more in the Bar. We did agree that once I completed some of my online courses, I could start doing the accounts."_

"_I remember. But you would also be taking care of this lazy guy. Do you want that?"_

_Mikoto snatched up a handful of the potato chips Izumo had placed in a bowl in front of him._

"_She already does that," he muttered._

_Anna's face gentled slightly at his words. It was true. When she was home often, she did tend to cook, wash and clean._

"_Mikoto also takes care of me," she pointed out. _

_Because then he would find her doing stuff he felt she didn't need to and would grumble with her to stop it. Most of the time he ended up helping her despite making a sour face about it._

_Izumo chuckled. He knew that was true as well. The only time that lazy king of theirs bothered to lift a finger was when it came to Anna. _

_Anna thought of something suddenly. Marriage was more than just two people having sex and living together. They did require a place of their own. _

_Technically, they both freeloaded from Izumo. _

_She turned her attention to Mikoto. _

"_Where will we live?" she questioned._

_Mikoto paused. "I guess we'll find somewhere," he answered._

_This was still Izumo's place._

_The bartender scowled at their words. "Now stop that you two. The only part of this building I'm really concerned with is this floor and the basement. There are two more levels excluding the attic and I've gone through a lot of trouble legally acquiring it for you."_

_Anna and Mikoto looked at Izumo. They were certainly puzzled by what he was saying._

_Mikoto fixed him with an annoyed look. "What are you talking about?"_

_Izumo tsked and picked up a glass to polish out of idleness. _

"_When was the last time you actually checked your bank account?"_

_Mikoto didn't answer._

_This meant that he did not know. _

"_Do you even pay attention to those documents I made you sign?" the bartender demanded._

_Mikoto shrugged._

_Of course he didn't bother. _

_Izumo released a weary sigh. "Look, even if you weren't aware of it I know that you and Anna might have gotten together in some way or the other eventually. Since you never bother with the yields from all those investments I made you do, together with all that cash from the bounty hunting and whatever else the Gold King paid you, I used some of it to pay off the mortgage on the building and legally place the second and third floors in your name. Don't worry, you've still got a good sum of money left,"_

_Mikoto was never really one to bother about his future. Izumo, on the other hand, would worry about him very much in a motherly-like manner. _

_For these reasons, he had taken control of his friend's accounts in order to ensure that he would have some sort of financial stability._

_It was a good thing too because Mikoto had neither planned nor foreseen getting married. _

"_Izumo..." Anna began. She was a bit uncertain about this and kept glancing at Mikoto, waiting for him to say something._

_However, it seemed that he had already resigned himself to staying at the bar. If Izumo wanted them to stay and there was more than enough room on the two middle levels of the building, then there should be no reason to make an issue out of this. _

_Izumo grinned at her. "I knew you would probably marry eventually so I took the liberty of fixing up the place. Anna will move to your bedroom, Mikoto. It's already a master bedroom. That new room I built can either be turned into your own private living room. Couples do need their own privacy."_

"_And Anna's bedroom?" Mikoto queried. _

_Izumo shrugged. "Guest room,"_

_Anna's face might seem like a mannequin's but in her eyes, there was hesitancy. "But this is Izumo's place," she said quietly. _

"_This is Homra. We made this into the kingdom of the red clan since Mikoto became king. It's technically Mikoto's domain. Even if we could legally change it to elsewhere, Bar Homra isn't the same without its king...or it's princess," Izumo explained, "so now this is officially yours to fix and do what you like with it. There's even a room on the third floor that might be perfect for your own private kitchen."_

_Anna blinked. She glanced over at Mikoto who shrugged it response. It was obvious that he was going to let her do whatever she wanted. _

_Carefully, she nodded. She was pleased by what Izumo did because it meant that they wouldn't have to leave the bar. It was the place she had been able to call home for many years and to leave it would have been very sad for her._

_For Mikoto, it would have been a hassle to settle elsewhere when he was already comfortable at the bar. _

"_When exactly are you two going to get married?" Izumo queried._

_It was the same thing Anna had been wondering. Since Mikoto was the one who had originally put out the idea of finally becoming wed, both the bartender and the princess looked to him._

_His eyes fell onto Anna and there was a certain kind of heat in him, very reminiscent of the way he had looked at her when they had been alone in his room. _

"_As soon as possible," was his response._

_This would not do for the bartender who was very much like a nagging mother at this moment. "No no, 'as soon as possible' isn't good enough," he tutted his friend, "Anna deserves to have a carefully planned out wedding where she chooses how she wants everything to go. That takes time you know."_

_Mikoto gave Izumo a long hard look before he gave Anna his attention. She went still under his gaze for she felt as though she was being glared at by a ferocious lion. _

_Without warning, he caught the back of her head in one hand while his mouth came crashing down on hers._

_Anna whimpered against his lips which moved hotly against her own. She could barely catch her breath because his tongue was working her own._

_Abruptly, he let her go. Her eyes had glazed over, her cheeks were flushed and she was panting. _

"_W-Why did you that!?" Izumo demanded. His own face was red at the almost erotic sight he had just seen. _

_Mikoto scowled. _

"_Just how long do you think I can wait?" he snapped._

_Izumo frowned._

_Ah yes, that was true. Mikoto was a man who had been celibate for many years. There was a lot of pent up lust inside of him. He was giving Izumo the opportunity to have Anna properly wed, but it had to be soon. _

"_Well, it ought to be after Toshi has been executed," Izumo agreed. He turned to Anna who was able to regain her composure. "Is that alright with you?"_

"_Yes."_

_She was glad Mikoto had said that it ought to be soon. The problem was that she did not know **when** a proper date would be alright._

_After that, Izumo had marched her and Mikoto off to bed in their separate rooms._

* * *

Anna shook her head at Izumo's question about the date.

Mikoto released a heavy sigh.

"The 8th," he said.

Everyone looked at him.

"You guys wanted to make a large cake before, didn't you?" he reminded them.

Yes, that had been nearly six years ago when Anna had been turning eleven that Totsuka Tatara had suggested a five meter tall cake for her birthday. Since it had sounded more like a wedding cake than a birthday cake, they had decided to put it off until she turned sixteen.

Izumo had shown much displeasure to the thought of Anna getting married when she was sixteen. However, he had explained to Mikoto a few months ago in the storage room why her getting married so young wasn't such a problem to him anymore.

Seventeen was now the set age.

"Really?! Is that alright?" Kamamoto asked excitedly.

Anna gave a small nod. She would be very pleased to become Mikoto's bride on her seventeenth birthday. It would be the best birthday gift ever.

Everyone cheered.

"We should start getting ingredients together from now!" Bando pointed out.

There were rounds of agreement.

"We also need a huge oven for the bottom layer," Shouhei pointed out.

"I know these guys who do specialty baking. Maybe we can talk to them," Kamamoto suggested.

There was another round of agreement.

"You seem happy," Mikoto murmured next to Anna.

He had noted the softness of her face and the warmth in her eyes when she looked at her comrades. Anna glanced at him. Her cheeks reddened slightly and her dark eyelashes drew over her pretty eyes as she lowered them shyly.

The nervousness he had sensed from had completely vanished at the enthusiasm of her clansmen. They were happy for her and this served as a means of reassuring her heart.

"Everyone is happy...and so am I. I will be yours, and you will be mine," she told him quietly.

Mikoto's response to her words was to lift his hand and gently brush his knuckle against her pale cheek. She felt the rasp of his silver ring against her skin and she released a soft sigh.

"Hey, I booked you two at a romantic restaurant this evening," Izumo informed them. The pair were startled out of their small interaction at the sight of the bartender standing before them.

They waited silently for him to speak.

Izumo let out a weary breath.

Mikoto didn't know how to properly romance a woman and Anna didn't know what it was like to truly be romanced.

The worst part about it was that neither probably cared.

Well, Izumo _did_ care.

As her legal guardian, he had to ensure that she did experience some proper wooing before her wedding, even if she was realistically already engaged to Mikoto.

"I want you two to have fun when you go out. Anna, dress up in a nicely and Mikoto...try not to look like a ruffian," he suggested.

Mikoto gave him an annoyed look while Anna tilted her head slightly. She was certainly curious as to why Izumo was sending them out this evening.

"You two are going to get married and you've never even gone out properly," Izumo pointed out.

"But Mikoto and I go out together a lot," Anna stated.

The glasses wearing man shook his head. "No, I don't mean like that. I mean when there's romantic intent behind it. Mikoto takes you out because he wants you to have a good time with him,"

"But Izumo is the one who booked the restaurant."

Izumo made a frustrated sound. "Yes, that is true but what I mean to say is that you go out as a couple. Not as king and princess but as a man and a woman who want to have a good time together!" Izumo paused and added, "but not too good, okay?"

He didn't want them screwing in some dark corner or in a hotel room somewhere.

Anna didn't really get what he meant by 'not too good' although she did now come to understand everything else he was trying to say.

"Ah, Izumo wants us to go out on a date," she said.

Izumo's features cracked into a big smile.

"Exactly, a _date_! This will be Anna's first official date with Mikoto!"

"But Mikoto and I have already gone on a date," Anna pointed out.

Everyone paused.

When did that happen?

"That time when you were ten years old doesn't count," Mikoto commented beside her.

She glanced at him. With true innocence that could not be faked in any possible way, the sixteen year old asked, "So when you asked me if I wanted to go on a date, you were faking?"

Mikoto stiffened.

Then scowled.

The brat had him in a box with her innocent words. How could a young woman like herself still speak with such childish innocence?

When she was a brat, she acted like mature little lady so what the hell happened when she actually grew up? Did everything just go in reverse with her?!

But no, a regression on her part had not actually occurred: Anna's personality had never changed over the years. It was her simplicity that made her seem almost child-like while it was her insight, mannerisms and knowledge that made her like that of a young woman.

"Fine," he conceded. "This will be our second date."

Everyone smiled around them, understanding that their King never relented his words for anyone.

Except Anna.

It was truly a refreshing sight for them.

* * *

Akemi and Kei sometimes worked on a Sunday for half of the day due to their short staff. JJ also came in too.

"Kei, there's something in your hair," Akemi told her friend. They were alone in the kitchen where he was preparing a parfait for the only customer who had come in that morning. With the recession going on, business had slowed.

Since he was already holding the glass on a tray with both hands, he couldn't reach it for himself.

However, Akemi lifted a slender pale hand and plucked what seemed to be a dry leaf from his caramel colored hair.

She smiled and showed it to him.

He returned a grin and pressed a brief kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you, sweet Akemi," he said in a mockingly sultry voice while she covered her cheek and blushed furiously.

"W-Why did you do that?!" she demanded.

Kei only laughed and headed out the door.

When he did, Akemi dropped her hand and smiled warmly.

She still had to tell him, didn't she?

Since she had some free time, she began to pace the kitchen, thinking and re-thinking all the different ways she was going to say it.

She paused mid-pace between the sink and the counter.

"Kei, I like you," she said aloud. Then cursed. That sounded so..._bland_ to her own ears. She resumed pacing and paused near the sink.

In an utterly erotic voice she had picked up on from romance movies, she lowered her tone, pursed her lips and said out loud, "Kei...I _like_ you,"

Akemi lost her expression because she did not need to look in a mirror to know that not only did she sound foolish, but she looked so as well.

As she resumed pacing and muttering to herself once more, she did not hear the kitchen door open. Then, she stopped completely at the counter. She touched her hand to her chest and decided to speak the words from her heart.

Her eyes glowed a beautiful ocean-like blue while her face mouth formed a soft, loving smile.

With all truth and honesty, she said out loud, "Kei, I love you,"

A glass crashed to the floor, startling her.

Akemi spun around quickly to see who it was.

Her skin completely lost its color when she saw Kei standing there with an unnaturally bewildered expression on his face.

* * *

Izumo was like the chicken without its head for preparing for Anna and Mikoto's wedding. Anna had decided to go for a Western-styled wedding rather than a traditional one. Seneca had some lovely boutiques she could check out for her dress. Akemi, Natsume and Sayuri would be able to advise her as well when she went there tomorrow.

Natsume would also be able to prescribe proper birth control for her and give Anna some advice for her future with her marriage to Mikoto.

The bartender was already going through various chapels that were available within Shizume City for them to have the ceremony. It would have to be a small wedding. Anna did not mind. There was no need for something extravagant because she wanted only for those who she considered to be the most important to her to attend. Those would be the regulars at Bar Homra and a couple of people from Seneca.

Mikoto had already decided that it would be in Anna's best interest that her being his wife not come to be known. The main reason was because he did not want any of the other six clans coming around and snooping at the bar like hungry dogs to gather intel and mind their business. Anna and Mikoto were quiet people after all. They did like to be left alone.

What had Izumo in a stump though, was _where_ those two ought to go on their honeymoon. Mikoto was too lazy to really bother to find somewhere so the bartender figured he would choose out a few places and have the king decide.

"Okay Mikoto, here the options. You can go to Hawaii," was Izumo's first suggestion.

Mikoto frowned at that.

"Ah, I thought you wouldn't like it," he said.

Indeed-a crowded beach full of noisy people in another country wasn't too appealing to the King. He suggested Guam and the Fiji Islands but sun, sand and sea was not really in favor of the stubborn man.

The bartender did worry about whether or not Mikoto would actually even show up to his own wedding. However, the red king wasn't that inconsiderate. He was really going through with the ceremony anyway because Anna would be happy.

Izumo sighed. "Fine, how about an onsen in Hokkaido then? You and Anna can laze around in yukatas, eat all day long and soak in the hot springs,"

This made Mikoto pause. Thinking about it, they would have their own privacy in the room. They would be bothered only for meals.

It pretty much sounded like lazing around.

Mikoto liked that idea.

There were also many things that he could _do_ to Anna in the quiet ryokan they would be staying at.

Thinking about it made him almost smirk.

"You seem pleased about this," Izumo remarked when he noted an almost wicked glint in the king's eyes.

The redhead shrugged.

"As long as it's a mixed bath."

Izumo eyed him for a long moment. He was an intuitive man so he had a fair idea of what was going on in Mikoto's mind.

However, because it was probably something really perverted on the red head's mind, Izumo did not linger on it.

* * *

"Ah, I'll clean up this mess," Kei said distractedly. He stooped beside the shattered glass and lifted the tray up first.

Akemi moved and silent brought him the broom and a scoop.

He took it from her and quickly began to get rid off the destroyed item.

"You heard," Akemi said quietly to her friend.

Kei grinned. "Of course I did! I love you like a sister too, Akemi!" he told her as he deposited the rubbish into the bin.

He leaned down to give her a small kiss but she pushed him away and stepped back.

Akemi lifted her face to him. She was frowning and her eyebrows were furrowed.

Her expression revealed that she was hurt.

"You _know_ that's not what I meant."

Kei smiled nervously. "Come on, Akemi. Don't be like that-"

"You coward," she cut him off with accusing blue eyes. "whenever you're in a situation where you feel completely uncomfortable, like you don't know what to do, you run from it! This is exactly how it was when you found out Anna was a strain!"

Kei narrowed his eyes angrily. "That was something different!"

"Then at least have the courtesy to not act like you don't know what I meant!" she shouted and stormed out of the room.

Kei stared after her, dumbfounded.

JJ stepped in behind the door. He had come in after hearing the crash and overheard enough to gather what the two had just argued about.

Kei began to pick up a few splinters that had not been gathered up by the broom.

"Are you just going to let her go like that?" JJ asked softly behind him.

Kei lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"What the heck am I supposed to do? She's my friend but that's all there is. I cared for her like a sibling."

JJ folded his arms and gave his brother a disappointed look. "If you care for her that much then you shouldn't act like a trapped animal. She didn't tell you that out of expectation of any commitment. Perhaps she just wanted you to know how she felt so that she would know if there was something between you two, or if she should just move on,"

Kei scowled. "You sound as though she's loved me for a long time,"

"Hasn't she? Sayuri and I had been betting on which of you would confess first. Damn it, Kei anyone could see that there was something between the two of you!"

"There wasn't!" Kei snapped. "She just took things the wrong way!"

JJ reached down and grabbed his brother by the collar and dragged him to his feet. It was one of those rare occasions when his sibling became very angry.

"Then you've been leading her own. Neither of you are related by blood and you're the one always touching her. It's normal she would have assumed that you might have liked her. Since I met her I always knew she had deep feelings for you. Even if you claim that isn't so, I think she did."

Kei was very silent as he listened to his brother. Truthfully, he _had_ known.

He had always known since middle school that Akemi might have felt more than friendship for him.

But he had deliberately ignored it on the basis that they were friends.

"You act jealous when any guy approaches her. I've seen you get rid off male customers who hit on her, even if they aren't coming on strongly," JJ continued. With meaningful eyes, he asked carefully, "what really is your problem, Kei? Is it because of the past?"

Kei stiffened.

He remembered something Mikoto Suoh had said to him in Middle School:

_'You're a man who's stuck. You can't move forward and you're unable to move back so you mask that part of you with a personality that you created to charm others into liking you...'_

Kei closed his eyes for a moment.

"That has nothing to do with it," he denied through gritted teeth.

The past was something he tried not to think about because he troubled the balance he had on his mind.

JJ released him. "I find that hard to believe. I'm not going to force you to date her. That wouldn't be fair to her. But you ought to think about what you just did. You tried to run from her feelings toward you. Have the consideration to go over to her and explain yourself properly. I've told you before, you led her on with your attitude. You were always the one teasing her and flirting with her. Now talk to her and try to salvage what's left of the friendship you've demolished-at least if it is that you value that aspect of your relationship."

JJ left the room after that.

Kei knew his brother was right. JJ might be a bit of an ass but he wasn't stupid. In fact, Kei exaggerated his flirtatious attitude by mimicking his brother.

The point was that JJ was also an intelligent man and he knew how to be an older brother. What he had just said to Kei was very true.

* * *

"Akemi, I want to talk to you," Kei said when he passed her in the restaurant.

The beautiful girl stiffened.

"I..." her voice trailed off.

It was clear that she was feeling anxious about what he had to say.

Akemi was a person who hid how she felt. She never liked people to see her cry for she thought tears were a weakness. Kei was a person who had comforted her during troubled times and therefore he was one of the few people who saw that face of hers.

Pride made her not want him to see her cry because of him.

She was upset, hurt.

Humiliated by his reaction to her confession.

She almost _hated_ him right now.

Almost as much as she loved him.

Kei sensed her hesitancy and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Please," he added quietly behind her.

That broke her.

She nodded.

* * *

"You can forget everything I said to you," Akemi informed him in a coolly, polite manner.

They were in the kitchen once more. Since there were no customers, they could rely on JJ in front. Should anyone come in, he would let them know.

Akemi was sitting opposite to him at the counter.

"I can't forget it," he told her.

"You wanted to," she pointed out.

Kei humbled himself now. He accepted that he had hurt her and he was ashamed of himself. She was very correct in saying that when he was uncomfortable about something, the first thing he did was run.

He wasn't a coward in terms of standing up to enemies and protecting his friends.

But he did have a serious problem with his own internal self when it came to him feeling like he should be forced to do something.

Akemi's feelings had made him feel like he was caged, as his brother had put it. He hadn't seen it at the time but he now knew that it was not the girl's intention to do this to him. He had acted stupidly and had hurt her in the process.

He explained all of these things to her and finally ended with, "I'm sorry. You were really trying to be brave and come forward and I just took everything and smashed it into nothing,"

Akemi remained silent. She was unsure of what to say.

"I might have also led you on. I didn't think it was so serious that hugging a girl so much or kissing her cheek would make her feel more than friendship. I realize that it was foolish of me and I'm sorry for that too."

"Is there anything else you want to apologize for?" Akemi asked slowly. She sounded rather mature when she said this.

Kei nodded. He looked at her for a full long moment before lowering his eyes, "I thought about it-your feelings for me and I really appreciate that you like me so much. But I don't feel the same way about you. I love you as a sister and I hope you can accept that."

Akemi took a long moment to finally speak. With as much normalcy as she could muster, she queried, "Is it possible that you could in any way, in the future, feel the same for me?"

It was like a knife through her heart when he immediately shook his head.

"No. I'm sorry. You're a great girl, Akemi but I don't think I'm the guy for you."

She could see that he really meant what he was saying and she realized how much her feelings had troubled him.

However, it was better to come out and be rejected instead of hiding her love.

She reached out with both her hands and covered his gently.

"It's okay, Kei. You found in a way I didn't want you to and it must have been a shock. I guess I understand why you reacted like that. Now that I know you don't feel the same as me, I can move on from what I feel for you. Thank you for talking this over with me. I hope we can still be friends."

Although somewhat bothered by the formality of the way she spoke, Kei's expression showed relief. "Yes! I _want_ to still be friends," he told her with a grand smile.

She returned it even though she knew she was faking it. She couldn't force Kei to love her the way she wanted him to and she was not going to burden him with guilt for making her upset.

"Then we're friends always," she told him. Somehow, she would learn to be satisfied with what he currently felt for her: sibling love.

Kei covered his friend hand with hers. "Yes, always," he agreed.

The door to the kitchen opened. It was JJ.

"Kei, there's that chatterbox girl who just came in. I think you're her favorite waiter so you better go see to her."

Kei nodded.

He turned to Akemi and smiled. She returned it and he let her go. She watched as he hurried away before standing up.

She felt drained but her emotions were piling up in her chest. Her throat burned and she covered her mouth to stifle the whimper of sadness over his rejection.

Behind her, a pair of arms came. She froze.

"You don't need to hide from me, Akemi," JJ told her softly.

Akemi immediately turned around and buried her face in his chest, sobbing. Her tears were soaking into his shirt but he didn't seem to mind.

Normally she wouldn't turn to anyone for comfort but right now she needed someone's soothing hand.

The brother of the person she loved was the only one here to give her what she needed.

JJ knew Kei harbored special feelings for the girl, but he was letting his own uncertainties hold him back from taking this lovely female for himself. In fact, the very reason for Kei not really ever committing himself to a girl was because of a black patch in his past.

But JJ also knew that if his brother explained things properly with a person like Akemi then she would understand. She was a very strong girl, perhaps a lot stronger than even she was aware of.

Stronger than Kei probably gave her credit for.

Oh, what a stupid brother JJ had!

* * *

"B-But it was was Kamamoto's fault!" Yata exclaimed amidst the box of broken wine bottles.

The chubby clansman was nursing a large cut to his foot. Truthfully, it had been Yata's horsing around that had caused this. He had gotten annoyed with Bando over something and had kicked him which resulted in him slamming into Kamamoto who had been carrying the box.

Izumo had been nagging all the while for the tubby clansman to carry it like fragile crystal.

Unfortunately, when Bando fell onto him, the box dropped out of his arms and to the floor.

Nearly all of the bottles were crushed together.

Izumo was now shaking with rage.

His precious bottles of _expensive_ wine...scattered and dashed to pieces on his beloved polished floor!

The quality red liquid...spilled everywhere!

This was a disaster!

Total destruction!

It was the massacre of wine.

And not just _any_ wine.

No, it was murder of _Izumo's_ wine.

Yata was going to pay for this.

Izumo grabbed him by the top of his head and lifted him off the floor. Yata felt his second in command squeezing his head painfully.

"I'm sorry, Kusanagi-san!" he apologized.

"If you're sorry, then you're going to help me with something," Izumo told him lowly.

"Anything! I'll do anything!" Yata promised in hopes of abating the bartender's anger.

"_Anything_?" Izumo repeated.

"Anything," the skateboarder affirmed.

He regretted saying that an instant later when the owner of the establishment's mouth slowly formed into a unusually creepy smile.

Izumo never looked at anyone like that.

It was damned well disturbing.

Oh no, just what had Yata gotten himself into?!

* * *

**A/N: *I'm hiding in a corner right now. ****Please don't kill me. ****I know I probably disappointed a lot of people with Akemi's confession to Kei. I know you're probably going, 'WTH CHICKYPEG?!' and I can't say I blame you. But there is a lot of importance with these two in the story. There was a mention of something with Kei in Growing Pains (see Chapter 32) that I never explained but I will explain it in this story. Please look forward to it. There might also be SOME hope for him and Akemi.**

***I have an important question concerning K's english dubbed episodes. Why can't I find beyond episode 9 even though episode 10 in english dub came out already (I think?). Is there a legal reason for this? I mean, episode 10 has that Anna/Mikoto cute moment :( I was really looking forward to that :( **

****I think I'm closer to the end of this story than I thought but then again, sometimes when I think I'm finishing a story soon, it ends up taking a whole lot longer.**

*****Thank you, all of you who followed, favorited and reviewed. I truly appreciate it and you do always encourage and motivate me to continue writing.**

******To that particular troll who reviewed anonymously, if it was your intention to bother me, you didn't. If you don't like this pairing or the plot of this story but you still chose to read then I'm probably a better writer than I think. It really touches me that you took the time to go through the story and actually bothered to review. So thank you :)**

_**For the rest of my wonderful reviewers:**_

_**xNightDreamerx: Red rice? Hm..not a bad idea! Now you know when they are planning to finally tie the knot :)**_

_**DBerryNia: I do very much try to restrain myself! And you are very correct about Izumo being mother-hen for the wedding preparations! I'm sorry if I disappointed you with Akemi and Kei's confession :( But there's still a sliver of hope for them :)**_

_**sextingarmin: I'm glad you loved the chapter so much! Especially the sexual tension! Yes, MARRIAGE! Sorry for disappointing you with the confession part! But please look forward to more interaction between those two! I'm also so happy that you love them. It means a lot to me. PS: I loved your previous username a lot. I only realized you were FragileBlueButterfiles when I was going through my reviews the other day. But I guess you have your reasons for changing it. It's a cool new name :)**_

_**GUEST: I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! O.O**_

_**creativeactive: I'm glad that you screamed when they decided to get married :) Indeed, poor Izumo ;)**_

_**Wonderland Reminiscence: It's okay, I understand. Thanks taking the time to review both chapters. I'm really glad :) I'm also so happy you liked the Seri/Izumo fic! Dude, I sympathize with you totally. If they were not siblings, I would totally be shipping them too. I'm sorry that you ended up finding out only after you started shipping them that they were brother and sister :( I'll check out Shingeki no Kyogin when I get some time as well :) I'm glad you liked the last chapter! And it's a relief to me to know that you thought the smut was good! I'm always a bit uncomfortable going into too much detail with it! Yes, they are finally going to get married! Sorry if I disappointed you with the confession but there's still some hope :) By the way, I wanted to ask your opinion on Diabolik Lovers. Have you seen it yet? If you have and you read up on the game or actually played it, what is your opinion on it? I saw the first two episodes and thought it was disturbing. I know you're really into some of these otome games/anime so maybe if you have good thoughts on it, you might be able to give me a reason to get more into it :)**_

_**Indochine: I'M SORRY! *Hug* Don't die on me okay? (But please don't kill me either *hides in corner*) I'm sorry to hear your next vacation is nine months away. Don't you get a break in December for Christmas? Please don't kill because of what happened with Akemi's confession. Sorry! But I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter even though things got cut off right before they could really get into it. I'm glad the wedding soothed you a bit. I'm so sorry again. Thanks for the review and you take care of yourself too :) Hope college life is going well for you :)**_

_**Guest: Hello, and thanks for your review. I'm pleased that you enjoyed all of the chapters of the story and you also feel the same way that I do about Anna and Mikoto: that they're meant for each other :) Heat can really people put people on an edge :/**_

_**friedchicken: Yes, they're finally going to get married! You're welcome and I'm glad you paid attention to that part :)**_

_**Mikoto's wife: Aww *pats on back* I guess most of us really do want a sexy guy like Mikoto for ourselves. My personal preference is Izumo though, but I think he's good enough with Seri. I'm glad you're happy that Anna and Mikoto are getting married though :) Akemi and Kei are what they are in the story: Anna's friends :) I'm glad you loved the chapter :)**_

_**XxXxSayuri-chanxXxX: It's okay, I understand :) Thanks for reading the Seri/Izumo story and I'm so glad you loved it :) I'm sorry if I disappointed you with the way things turned out for Akemi and Kei but there's more stuff on them to come, I promise. A LOT MORE :) I loled when you said 'Anna say goodbye to your V-card' XD Yes, marriage! I think it's about time! I like to think that Izumo behaves over Anna the way he does with his bar because in this story he's her legal guardian :) When cool characters go kind of crazy it really is very funny. I don't know if you watch Bleach but for me, a perfect example of a cool guy going kind of OOC is in some of the Shinigami Golden Cup episodes with Byakuya Kuchiki and the Women's Club :)**_

_**LindyLinn: Yes, they're going to get married! Sorry if I sort of let you down with Akemi's confession...but I hope you look forward to more on them!**_

_**Hn: Thanks for reviewing! I think Anna is cute too :)**_

_**mikotoxanna: Wow, I'm so happy that you read the story and you loved it so much. Thank you :) To answer your questions: I think Anna might have appeared to Mikoto because of her powers. One reason is because based on the translations of K:Side Red, she had connected to Mikoto and I think ever since then they might have been able to communicate in a special way. They had even shared a dream so maybe they were also sharing dreams in episode 6. Also, remember episode 9? Mikoto was able to contact her with one of her marbles even though he was imprisoned in Scepter 4's headquarters. I also remember in one of the previews, Anna was saying, 'I won't ask you to go anymore' or something like that. So, that's my reasons for saying that she appeared to him because of her powers. Yes, based on the translations, she did get choked and drowned because I believe that's how Mizuchi was able to fully draw out her talent and get her to connect to the Slate. I guess you probably know now that trashbunny finished up the translations of the novel so it probably provided some better clarification to you about what Mizuchi did to Anna. I hope I helped though :) **_

**Thanks again everyone. **

**Let me know your thoughts on the chapter.**

**God bless :)**


End file.
